The 2017 NBA season tips off on Wednesday 18 October with the two likely Finalists in both the Eastern and Western Conference facing off: Boston Celtics at the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Houston Rockets at the Golden State Warriors. But of interest to Africa, will be the games involving African talent on Thursday.
The action is live on Kwesé Sports on digital and broadcast platforms.
Orlando Magic vs. Miami Heat (LIVE on Kwesé Sports 1 on Thursday 19 from 01:00, CAT)
The Orlando Magic and Miami Heat have different challenges; while the Magic have not hit 50 percent in the wins column in five years, the Heat failed to qualify for the postseason for only the second time in 10 years. Both will start with a clean slate when they face off on Thursday morning.
But African eyes will be on the troika of talent from the continent that will be on display. Bismack Biyombo was handed an estimated four-year, $72m contract by Orlando at the start of last season. The 6.0 points per game and 7.0 rebounds per game average he posted while playing 22 minutes a night, is not exactly what the Magic hoped for.
Orlando will expect to see a resurrection of the Biyombo that started 10 of 20 Playoff games in his final season at Toronto, and was unstoppable against the Cavaliers, and this game will give an insight into that possibility.
For Evan Fournier, the other player of African decent at the Magic, the attraction will be to see if his steep curve of growth in the League will continue. The 17.2 points per game the shooting guard averaged last season, is a career-best. Fournier has improved from the 5.3 points per game average he delivered when he arrived in Denver in 2012, to one of the go-to guys on the Magic roster, and will be important for them again this season. Rookie Wesley Iwundu is also expected to make an appearance for the Magic.
As expected, Miami are easing Bam Adebayo into the League. The Heat star of the Summer League has averaged only 6.5 minutes per game in the first four preseason contests, averaging 2.3 points per game and 1.5 rebounds per game. The Heat are likely to expose him to the same usage in this game, but when he does play he will give it his all.
Boston Celtics vs. Milwaukee Bucks (01:30, CAT)
This is another likely playoff match-up come early, and the whole of the continent will be watching to see how the heir apparent to the NBA golden-boy crown, Giannis Antetokounmpo, matches up to stacked Eastern Conference powerhouse that is Boston, who play the second of back-to-back nights after opening in Cleveland.
If there is a statement game, this will be it. He scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds in a little over 32 minutes the last time the Bucks won in Boston. Thon Maker, the other African on the Bucks roster, managed only four points and two rebounds in almost 13 minutes of action in the same game. Maker is wiser, and will likely get more minutes this season.
The same cannot be said of Semi Ojeleye. The rookie has averaged 21 minutes in the 3 games so far, posting 7.0 points per game and 2.3 rebounds per game off the bench. He will get more minutes as the season progresses, but will likely have to make do with a cameo role in this game, especially if the opening night in Cleveland doesn't turn out the way the Celtics hope it does.
Dallas Mavericks vs. Atlanta Hawks (02:30, CAT)
The debate on whether Tunisian center, Salah Mejri deserves a new contract at Dallas started as soon as the 2016/17 season closed, as he entered the final season of a three-year, $2.4m deal. The fact that he wasn't guaranteed for the 2017/18 season, and Mavericks did not waive him, (they could have waived the contract at the end of July, and he will earn about $1.8m in this final year) meant that he did enough to justify that contract; but the fact that they didn't offer him an extension meant that Mark Cuban and Rick Carlisle are not fully convinced either.
Mejri averaged 3.2 points per game while playing 12.2 minutes each night in those two seasons; he started only 17 of the 107 games he played. The Tunisian was exciting on some nights, will he stake a claim to more minutes with a huge performance on this day?
There will be no such questions surrounding Dennis Schroeder. The 24-year-old guard signed a two-year $3.04m contract after he was drafted by Atlanta in 2013, a year later, the Hawks exercised a $1.76m option, and took the $2.7m option 12 months down the line.
Then in October 2016, they locked him down to a new 4-year deal worth a reported $70m with $62m guaranteed. Such has been his impact. The Gambian-German plays with a chip on his shoulder, and it will be no surprise if his next target is to be an All-Star appearance, and make an All-NBA Team. The trip to Dallas will be the place to start... literally.
Utah Jazz vs. Denver Nuggets (03:00, CAT)
The interest in this game will center around two things: the prospects of both Emmanuel Mudiay and Ekpe Udoh this season. Mudiay was hot for the Nuggets through the first one and half seasons of his NBA career, then everything petered-out as team coach, Michael Malone dropped him out of team rotation around February 2017. He started just one of the first four preseason games, and posted 10.5 points per game and 4.0 assists per game in 23 minutes. A good start, but will Malone continue with him?
Udoh has been out of the NBA for two seasons. In those two years, he has won trophies, been named on All-Star teams, and won MVP honours in Europe. His last recorded statistics in the NBA was 0.9 points per game and 0.8 rebounds per game while averaging 3.9 minutes in 33 games at the Clippers. If he starts against the Nuggets, it will be his first start in an NBA game since 2014.
Can he cope? That question will not be relevant for Thabo Sefolosha whose 42 starts for the Atlanta Hawks last season was the most starts since he started all the 61 games he played for the Oklahoma City in 2013/14. Sefolosha's stock in trade is hard-nosed defense, and he is expected to anchor a Jazz defence that will also have Rudy Gobert. This game may be the start of something special.
Sacramento Kings vs. Houston Rockets (04:00, CAT)
Clint Capela laid down a marker last season when his scoring average jumped with the increased minutes Mike D'Antoni handed him; he started 24 more games than the previous season (from 35 to 59) and his minutes went from 19.1 to 23.9 average per night. But the scoring zoomed from 7.0 to 12.6 points per game. Against the Sacramento Kings however, Capela logged a 17.7 points per game average in four meetings, and actually recorded double-doubles in the two games - DeMarcus Cousins was in the line-up opposite him.
After the tough opening day game in Oakland against the defending champions the Warriors, will Capela and Luc Mbah a Moute run riot against the 'weaker' Kings? Or will Rockets open the season with a 2-0 lead on the back of contributions from the African duo?