The Vipers are 6-8 in the Southwestern Division this season, and are 1-0 against the Tbirds. In the NBA D-League Showcase, the Tbirds will play the Sioux Falls Skyforce on Monday, January 5 at 11:00am MST, this is considered a home game, and the Erie BayHawks on Wednesday, January 7 at 4:30pm MST. Both teams are in the Central Division. The Skyforce are 9-4 and the BayHawks are 8-7. The Tbirds have not played either of these teams this season.

The annual NBA Development League Showcase will be held in Orem, Utah from Monday, Jan. 5 – Thursday, Jan. 8, with all 16 teams playing in four days of competition. All 16 Showcase games will be streamed via NBA Futurecast, a platform that provides live, online video streaming to fans, on NBA.com, NBADLeague.com and www.abqtbirds.com. NBA D-League Central, hosted by Rick Kamla, will air on Monday, Jan. 5 at 3 p.m. ET to discuss the latest news regarding the Showcase.

This is the fifth year of the NBA D-League Showcase, an event that serves as the premier destination for NBA general managers and scouts to check out the NBA D-League’s top prospects in action.

The Tbirds are at home again on Friday and Saturday, January 9 and 10 at Tingley Coliseum. Both games start at 7pm and are against the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. January 10 will be the first player card give-away, sponsored by the Albuquerque Journal. Will Conroy’s card will be available for free and Conroy will sign cards after the game.

Tickets start at $5 and can be purchased by calling 505-265-DUNK (3865) or by visiting www.abqtbirds.com.

The NBA Development League is the NBA's official minor league, and the first-ever basketball league with direct affiliations to NBA teams. Having recently completed its seventh season, the NBA D-League’s goals are to provide affordable, NBA-caliber entertainment to fans of its 16 teams, as well as continue to develop players, coaches, referees and front-office personnel for the NBA. As the single source for in-season player "call-ups" to the NBA, fans of the D-League enjoy the highest caliber of basketball played outside the NBA. In fact 15 percent of players on 2008 end-of-season NBA rosters spent time honing their skills in the League. In addition, it has produced current NBA coaches and 25 percent of the NBA’s referees. The NBA D-League is an innovative and rapidly growing sports property that also serves as an experimental testing ground for new initiatives like NBA Futurecast, the live web-streaming of all games available free at nba.com/futurecast. The League also provides continuing education and professional development resources for its players, and is committed to serving its local communities through D-LEAGUE CARES and grassroots efforts.

###