Sky Sports showing a record 48 weekend NBA Primetime games in the 2019-20 season
Tuesday 12 November 2019 15:53, UK
Who will prevail in this weekend's NBA Saturday and Sunday primetime games live on Sky Sports? Ovie Soko previews Celtics @ Spurs and Nuggets @ Timberwolves.
This is an exciting game with what I think will be two playoff teams. They are two very different teams.
We've the got the Spurs who have a lot of experience through their whole roster and are a good transition team, scoring 23.1 points per game at a league-best 61.1 field goal percentage. They rebound and they run. They've got the tools and the versatility with their bigs and wings to get out and run the floor.
Boston are not a transition team, which is funny when you think about the youth they have on their team. The Celtics are a strong defensive team, they rank third in defensive efficiency. They are an average rebounding but they force guys to turn the ball over.
Offensively, they'll run in spurts when they can but ultimately will try to break opponents down in the halfcourt. That fits into coach Brad Stevens' style of play. He does things in a very specific way and my own opinion is that he is one of the next great coaches.
It's going to be a really interesting battle. Demar DeRozan is playing solid for the Spurs at the moment. Kemba Walker is playing out of his mind for Boston. Jayson Tatum, who scored 23 points in Thursday night's win in Charlotte, must be building up a bit of confidence. I think that dynamic of him and Kemba is working pretty well, definitely better than how he worked with Kyrie Irving last season.
I want to see if the Spurs will be able to get out and run. Boston won't be able to take that away completely but the Celtics are versatile and very good defensively.
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This game gives us one of the best individual match-ups of the week with Nikola Jokic going up against Karl-Anthony Towns.
Towns has started the season as one of the best performing players in the league. He leads his team in points, rebounds, steals, blocks and three-point percentage. He is 'Mr Do It All' for them right now.
Jokic is such a skilled big man. He scores, he rebounds but what I love about him the most is his ability to pass the ball. It's a talent for any player but having a big man that you can use as an outlet to make plays or relieve pressure, that changes the way the game can be played.
Jokic's passing frees up everyone else because everyone's defender has to take one step back. When the ball is in Jokic's hands and your man cuts, you know he can hit his team-mates with passes that are on the money.
Jokic is a special big man. We've seen him have big scoring nights. I think he'll be motivated for this game given how Towns is playing at the moment, I certainly would be.
