The Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves will play a preseason game at Pechanga Arena, the first exhibition played there in 10 years.
Nikola Jokic’s Nuggets will serve as the home team for the Oct. 4 game, which tips off at 6 p.m. Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday.
The Nuggets’ decision to play in San Diego is less random than it seems. The team has trained at UC San Diego several times in the past, and as recently as 2023. The club’s owner, Stan Kroenke, is the majority investor in the Midway Rising project that promises to bring a new arena to the existing Pechanga site.
Pechanga Arena, formerly the San Diego Sports Arena, last hosted an NBA preseason game in 2015, when the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors squared off there. The sold-out game was called off with 2:16 remaining in the third quarter after Golden State’s Leandro Barbosa slipped on the wet court. The ice below the basketball court had caused slippery spots to appear on the hardwood.
The NBA returned to San Diego County last year, when the Los Angeles Clippers and Brooklyn Nets christened the new Frontwave Arena in Oceanside.
Originally Published: August 6, 2025 at 11:12 AM PDT