Just as LeBron James and his much-heralded Miami teammates are heating up, they will be shown in 3D this Friday on ESPN 3D‘s first live NBA telecast at 7 p.m. ET Dec. 17.
The Heat’s first trip to Madison Square Garden this season to take on the New York Knicks is the first of at least eight regular season NBA games to be telecast by ESPN 3D. Mark Jones and analyst Jon Barry will call this Friday’s Heat/Knicks game and Jones will be the regular play-by-play voice for NBA games televised on ESPN 3D throughout the season.
The network also announced three additional games to its regular season line-up today, including a Christmas Day matchup featuring the Knicks again at MSG as they host the Chicago Bulls at 12 noon ET.
ESPN 3D’s cameras will then move to Phoenix for three games hosted by the Suns in 9 days, starting with the Lakers at 10:30 p.m. ET Wednesday, Jan. 5, then the Knicks once again at 10:30 p.m. ET Friday, Jan. 7, and finally Portland at 10:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 14.
The Lakers will be featured two more times in Denver Jan. 21 and back at MSG against the Knicks on Feb. 11.
The rest of the schedule thus far (all times Eastern):
Friday, Feb. 25 (8 p.m.): Oklahoma City at Orlando
Friday, March 4 (7 p.m.): Chicago at Orlando
Wednesday, March 16 (8 p.m.): Oklahoma City at Miami
Friday, April 1 (8 p.m.): Boston at Atlanta
ESPN 3D will also telecast several games of each round of the playoffs through the conference finals.
Other upcoming ESPN 3D telecasts include the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl on Saturday, Jan. 1, and the BCS National Championship Game on Monday, Jan. 10, as well as Winter X Games beginning on Thursday, Jan. 27.
— By Scott Hettrick
Oh hell yea! I’m pumped about this. Watching sports in 3D feels like sitting in first row midcourt seats at the stadium, but in the comfort of my own house. I’ve been watching ESPN 3D since the beginning of their broadcasting and they have really been perfecting their 3d filming technics to give an awe inspiring performance.