NBA Preseason Opens in Québec City With Heat–Raptors on October 3rd
The NBA preseason begins Saturday, October 3rd, with the Miami Heat and Toronto Raptors meeting in Québec City. Tipoff at Videotron Centre is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on NBA TV, giving basketball fans a first look at two teams entering the exhibition schedule with major changes.
The NBA Canada Games guide confirms that the matchup will be the first NBA game at Videotron Centre, which opened in 2015. The series continues Saturday, October 10th, when Toronto faces the Los Angeles Clippers at Rogers Arena in Vancouver at 6:30 p.m. ET on NBA League Pass.
That second stop will mark Vancouver’s eighth NBA Canada Game. Before this year’s pair of exhibitions, the series had brought 16 teams to six Canadian cities for 20 games since launching in 2012. The schedule gives Toronto two opportunities to play beyond its regular home market before the new season begins.
The NBA opening-weekend preview puts Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kawhi Leonard at the center of Saturday’s attention. Antetokounmpo begins his Miami chapter after 13 seasons in Milwaukee, while Leonard returns to the franchise he helped lead to the 2019 championship. Their possible appearances are a draw, though neither should be treated as a confirmed debut until availability is settled.
Miami’s developing frontcourt partnership pairs Antetokounmpo with Bam Adebayo. Toronto’s new combination brings Leonard together with Scottie Barnes, whose defensive versatility gives the Raptors another point of interest. For viewers, the useful early clues will be how those combinations share the floor, communicate and fit within their teams’ rotations.
The weekend expands Sunday, October 4th, with Utah facing Denver in Boulder at 7 p.m. ET on NBA TV. Golden State and the Clippers also play at 7 p.m. ET in Honolulu, with that game listed on NBA League Pass. The regular season starts October 20th, leaving this opening weekend as an introduction rather than a final judgment on anyone’s ceiling.
Follow PowerPage’s NBA coverage for more basketball reporting as preseason play gets underway.
Image credit: Issac Baldizon and Vaughn Ridley/NBAE via Getty Images, as credited by NBA.com. NBA-supplied composite with PowerPage cover treatment.
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