NBA schedule today, game time, players to watch: Oct. 25

The NBA season continues with two extremely interesting matchups between conference foes. The final two teams that haven't played so far will face off on Thursday night as the Milwaukee Bucks host the Philadelphia 76ers. The other matchup will be a battle between the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns.

NBA Players to watch on Thursday Night:

Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers

With LeBron James most likely playing reduced minutes like he did in their season opener, the Lakers will need a very great performance for Anthony Davis. He played okay in the first half of the opener but was unable to do anything on the offensive end in the second half. Quite simply, Davis was not a factor and a major reason the Lakers lost.

While the Lakers have a good chance of beating a solid Kings team and the Magic to get .500 if they lose this game, it is important that Davis shows himself on the offensive end for the entire game. To quiet the opening noise that comes with a LeBron-led team, the Lakers will need to beat or make it close against a top-3 team in the west.

The Lakers' role players will also need to step up — including Gabe Vincent, Rui Hachimura and others. With LeBron playing limited minutes this season, these role players will need to have a better performance than they had in their loss to the Nuggets. Over the first part of the season, Vincent will be a player to watch as the Lakers will need to decide if he is a functional rotational player.

Kevin Durant, Phoenix Suns

While Anthony Davis's play will be the biggest topic of Thursday's game, Kevin Durant has questions to answer of his own. Durant struggled at times in the Suns' season opener and will need to play better for the Phoenix in this game. If Bradley Beal is unable to play in this game, the Suns will need Durant to show up due to the fact that the bench for Phoenix isn't very good.

UPDATE: Shams Charania is reporting that Bradley Beal and Devin Booker will both be out for tonight's matchup against the Lakers, putting even more importance on Durant's performance.

Tyrese Maxey and Patrick Beverley, Philadelphia 76ers

With James Harden most likely not playing due to a personal issue, the 76ers will need Maxey to step up if the team wants to beat Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Maxey will not need to defend Lillard in this matchup but he will need to make sure that the team has enough offensive firepower to get the win. The Sixers will most likely be able to expose Lillard on the defensive end by getting switches that allow Maxey to be guarded by Lillard.

Patrick Beverley will also be very important in this game because someone will need to be guarding Lillard on the other end. The All-NBA player will be looking to have an amazing offensive game in his debut for the Bucks. Beverley will need to make sure that he is not beaten off the dribble in this game if he wants to stop Lillard.