NBA Preview: Nuggets host Orleans Pelicans as Spurs travel to Warriors

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Viewers on DStv and GOtv can look forward to thrills and spills from the world’s best basketball league, with ESPN and ESPN 2 the premier venues for coverage of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 2022-23 season will continue through the week of Friday 31 March to Thursday 6 April 2023.

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The first live NBA game this week arrives on the morning of Friday 31 March, as the New Orleans Pelicans head west to take on the Denver Nuggets in Colorado (04:30 LIVE on ESPN 2).

The Pelicans will look to second-year pro-Trey Murphy III, who has enjoyed a great season and was particularly brilliant in a recent triumph over the Portland Trail Blazers. “Trey was incredible,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said of the franchise’s 2021 first-round draft choice. “He’s a shot-maker and he’s having an unbelievable year. I’m extremely proud of him.”

The morning of Saturday 1 April brings a clash between the Boston Celtics and the Utah Jazz at the TD Garden (01:30 LIVE on ESPN 2).

The Jazz’s Talen Horton-Tucker has upped his game in recent weeks and will be hungry to continue his form against the Celtics. “He understands what is real and what is not,” Utah coach Will Hardy said of Horton-Tucker, a second-round draft pick in 2019. “He understands that so far to date he hasn’t really gotten what he’s wanted in the NBA. He wants to play more. He wants to be in the rotation. He wants to be a key player.”

This will be followed by the Golden State Warriors hosting the San Antonio Spurs in San Francisco (04:00 LIVE on ESPN 2).

The Spurs have endured a miserable season but have unearthed a potential ‘diamond in the rough’ in the shape of Sandro Mamukelashvili, a 23-year-old Georgian power forward who has impressed legendary coach Gregg Popovich.

“He is a talented kid. We like his game. He has got really good athleticism. He is a player who knows how to play the game. He plays the European style, and that’s movement. He’s smart, so I was thrilled for him. He did a good job for us.”

The final live game of the weekend will be played on the evening of Sunday 2 April, as the Utah Jazz battle the Brooklyn Nets in a clash in the ‘Big Apple’ of New York (21:30 LIVE on ESPN).

Mikal Bridges has been one of the driving forces behind the Nets’ improvement since they traded away Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. “Even if we don’t know what we’re doing sometimes, just scrambling, all five guys help each other,” Bridges said. “Sometimes, it’s not going to be perfect, but I think just the next guy stepping up is the biggest thing.”

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NBA Regular Season broadcast details

All times CAT

Friday 31 March

  • 04:30: Denver Nuggets v New Orleans Pelicans – LIVE on ESPN 2

Saturday 1 April

  • 01:30: Boston Celtics v Utah Jazz – LIVE on ESPN 2
  • 04:00: Golden State Warriors v San Antonio Spurs – LIVE on ESPN 2

Sunday 2 April

  • 21:30: Brooklyn Nets v Utah Jazz – LIVE on ESP