The NBA’s 119-game preseason schedule for 2007, which features games in 21 non-NBA North American cities, will tip off Oct. 6, with an NBA Europe Live doubleheader.
The Boston Celtics, and new acquisition Kevin Garnett, will travel to Rome, Italy to face Chris Bosh and the Toronto Raptors at Pala Lottomatica, and the Minnesota Timberwolves take on 12-time Turkish Basketball League Champions Efes Pilsen at Abdi Ipekci Sports Hall in Istanbul, Turkey.
NBA Europe marks the start of Training Camps for the 2007-08 season, continues on Oct. 7, when the Raptors take on Lottomatica Roma, also at Pala Lottomatica. On Oct. 9, the Memphis Grizzlies face Spain’s Unicaja, with former NBA players Jiri Welsch and Daniel Santiago, at Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena in Malaga, Spain. Garnett will battle his former team for the first time when the Celtics face the Timberwolves at London’s O2 Arena on Oct. 10 on ESPN2.
NBA Europe Live concludes with a doubleheader on Oct. 11, when the Grizzlies take on MMT Estudiantes and Toronto battles Real Madrid, both at Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad in Madrid, Spain.
NBA China Games 2007 features Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic and LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers traveling to Shanghai and Macao. The Magic and Cavaliers play at the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena in Shanghai on Oct. 17, and at Venetian Arena in Macao on Oct. 20. Between those two contests, Orlando will take on the Chinese National Team on October 18, also at Venetian Arena.
Europe’s top team travels to Texas for a game against the NBA’s best when the 2007 Euroleague Champion, Greece’s Panathinaikos, visits AT&T Center in San Antonio on Oct. 13 for a showdown with Tim Duncan and the defending champion Spurs. Panathinaikos also will take on Yao Ming and the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center in Houston on Oct. 11.
National television coverage will feature Carlos Boozer and the 2006-07 Northwest Division champion Utah Jazz taking on last year’s scoring leader Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers at San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego, California on Oct. 25 on TNT.
Other preseason highlights include: a showdown between the last two NBA champions when 2007 Finals MVP Tony Parker and the San Antonio Spurs, who captured their fourth NBA title in nine years in June, visit the 2005-06 NBA Champion Miami Heat on Oct. 23; a rematch of last year’s Eastern Conference Finals, when Chauncey Billups and the Detroit Pistons visit Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland on Oct. 11; and a match-up of the top two picks of the 2007 NBA Draft when top overall selection Greg Oden and the Portland Trail Blazers host Kevin Durant and the Seattle SuperSonics on Oct. 24 at Rose Garden.
The New York Knicks host Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv on Oct. 11. Lithuania’s Zalgiris Kaunas takes on the Golden State Warriors on Oct. 15 at Oracle Arena, the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre on Oct. 17, and the Washington Wizards at Verizon Center on Oct. 19, as an extension of the NBA’s International 2007 preseason slate.
