NBA schedule 2012: Hawks-Kings kicks off the weekend around the NBA

The NBA weekends may not pull the ratings that football does until later in the season, but plenty of fun games are to be had, starting this weekend with the Atlanta Hawks wrapping up their four-game West Coast road trip with a game against the struggling Sacramento Kings, with tipoff at 10 p.m. ET.

The Hawks have dropped two out of their first three games on the trip — to the Clippers and, more recently, the Warriors Wednesday night — while beating the Blazers on Monday. The Kings are 2-6 and still trying to find any semblance of an offensive game.

Another matchup viewers will want to tune in for Friday night is a game between the two teams in the league that have looked the best so far; the undefeated New York Knicks visit the Memphis Grizzlies at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. The Knicks are coming off their best win of the season, a comeback on the road against the previously 7-1 San Antonio Spurs, to send their record to 6-0, while the Grizzlies have beaten the Heat and the Thunder in the past seven days and look like serious contenders.

Starting Saturday, the nationally televised games will go out the window, but those with NBA League Pass won't want to miss Nuggets-Spurs at 8:30 p.m. ET and Bulls-Clippers at 9 p.m. ET Saturday.

The Sunday fun starts early with the Pacers against the Knicks in what's sure to be an electric Madison Square Garden at noon ET. Later on, the Rockets will visit the Lakers at 9:30 p.m. ET in what's expected to be Mike D'Antoni's first game on the Lakers' sideline.