MEXICO CITY — Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets take the NBA south of the border Saturday, facing the Indiana Pacers at Arena CDMX in a regular-season game set for 5 p.m. Eastern, 4 p.m. local time.
The matchup is the 35th NBA game ever staged in Mexico and the 16th that counts in the standings, along with 19 preseason dates. No country outside the United States and Canada has hosted more. It is also the fifth straight season the league has brought a regular-season game to Mexico City.
The game lands during the week of Día de Muertos, and the league is leaning into the holiday for the third year in a row with a themed court and fan activities inside the arena, where the G League’s Mexico City Capitanes play their home games.
Jokic, a three-time Most Valuable Player, told reporters Friday that he was struck by the size of the city and that games like this give fans who rarely see the NBA in person a chance to experience it. Denver is 4-3 and beat Toronto 128-109 on Wednesday behind Jokic’s line of 32 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists.
That was the 201st triple-double of his career. He needs nine more to pass Russell Westbrook, his former teammate, for the most in league history. Mexico City also sits about 2,000 feet higher than Denver, and Jokic suggested the Nuggets may be better suited than most visitors to handle the thin air.
Indiana is 3-6 and arrives having snapped a five-game skid with a 107-103 win over Memphis. The Pacers will be without Tyrese Haliburton, who has a left hamstring strain, and Ben Sheppard and Johnny Furphy are out after knee surgeries. T.J. McConnell and Kelly Oubre Jr. are questionable.
U.S. viewers can watch on NBA TV or stream it through NBA League Pass.
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