Bangkok--30 Oct--Total Quality PR The highly-anticipated National Basketball Association regular season tips off this week and Asia’s number one sports broadcaster ESPN STAR Sports (Ch.39, 65, True Visions), will feature the exhilarating matches from the world’s most exciting basketball league matches twice weekly. ESPN STAR Sports’ hardcourt coverage for the 2007-2008 season will be highlighted by two LIVE and exclusive regular season games on Friday and Saturday on STAR Sports and ESPN respectively. STAR Sports kicks off the high-flying action on 2 November 2007 with a heavyweight match-up in the Eastern Conference between two former NBA champions; the Detroit Pistons and the Miami Heat live at 7.00 am. The Pistons, despite being at the losing end in the Eastern Conference Finals for two consecutive years, are still considered as a title-contenders. With the core of the team remaining intact, Rasheed Wallace, Teyshaun Prince and the formidable backcourt tandem of Richard Hamilton and Chauncey Billups look ready to steer themselves to another shot at the world title. Meanwhile, Miami, which suffered a disappointing 2006-2007 playoff campaign with a first round exit at the hands of the Chicago Bulls, are looking to bounce back behind the leadership of mercurial guard Dwayne Wade and dominant center Shaquille O’Neal. Although Wade is still sidelined indefinitely after undergoing shoulder and knee surgeries, off-season acquisitions Smush Parker, Alexander Johnson and a revived Anfernee Hardaway add depth to the squad to before the 2006 NBA Finals MVP returns. On Saturday 3 November 2007, ESPN will broadcast the eagerly anticipated tie between the Washington Wizards and the newly-overhauled Boston Celtics at LIVE at 8.00 am. Washington, led by the dynamic trio of Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison, is determined to battle for the playoffs for the fourth consecutive time after enduring an injury marred season last year. Versatile rookie Steve Young joins the Washington squad hoping to create an instant impact in his first year as a pro. On the other hand, the visiting Boston has bolstered its line-up in a very big way as two blockbuster off-season moves have made the Celtics a contender to become an upper echelon team. The addition of seven-time All-Star Ray Allen and the “Big Ticket” Kevin Garnett to the Celtics has definitely put the struggling team back on track for a possible championship run. Look for Allen and Garnett to team up with five-time All-Star Paul Pierce as they embark on a quest to bring back “Celtic Pride” to the Boston Garden. Catch all the slam-dunking action only on ESPN and STAR Sports. Kindly refer to the broadcast schedule for November:Date Time Away Home Channel Fri, Nov 02 7:00 AM Detroit Miami STAR Sports Sat, Nov 03 7:00 AM Washington Boston ESPN Fri, Nov 09 10:30 AM Dallas Golden State STAR Sports Sat, Nov 10 8:30 AM Milwaukee Houston ESPN Fri, Nov 16 10:30 AM Chicago Phoenix STAR Sports Sat, Nov 17 8:00 AM Houston San Antonio ESPN Sat, Nov 24 8:00 AM Houston Miami ESPN Fri, Nov 30 10:30 AM Denver LA Lakers STAR Sports Schedules subject to change without prior notice About ESPN STAR Sports ESPN STAR Sports is a 50:50 joint venture between two of the world’s leading cable and satellite broadcasters. As Asia's definitive and complete sports broadcaster and content provider, ESPN STAR Sports combines the strengths and resources of its ultimate parent companies — Walt Disney (ESPN, Inc.) and News Corporation Limited (STAR) — to deliver a diverse array of international and regional sports to viewers via its encrypted pay and free-to-air services. ESPN STAR Sports showcases an unparalleled variety of premier live sports from around the globe 24 hours a day to a cumulative reach of more than 310 million viewers in Asia. ESPN STAR Sports has 17 networks covering 24 countries, each localised to deliver differentiated world-class premier sports programming to Asian viewers. This includes ESPN Asia, ESPN China, ESPN Hong Kong, ESPN India, ESPN Malaysia, ESPN Philippines, ESPN Singapore, ESPN Taiwan, MBC-ESPN (Korea), STAR Sports Asia, STAR Sports Hong Kong, STAR Sports India, STAR Sports Malaysia, STAR Sports Singapore, STAR Sports Southeast Asia, STAR Sports Taiwan, and STAR Cricket. On the ground, the ESPN STAR Sports Event Management Group manages and promotes premier sporting events around Asia. The multi-lingual, online platforms, espnstar.com, espnstar.com.cn and espnstar.com.tw and footballcrazy.tv interact with millions of users providing them with in-depth sports news, results and competitions.mobileESPN enables sports fans to follow their favourite sports more closely than ever with content specially delivered via their mobile phones. mobileESPN is the first of a regional suite of services to be offered across six markets in Asia Pacific — Airtel (India), Vodafone Essar (India), B Mobile (Indonesia), ESIA (Indonesia), Indosat (Indonesia), Maxis (Malaysia), MobileOne (Singapore), StarHub (Singapore), PCCW (Hong Kong), Mobitel (Cambodia). Our other multi-media platforms include fully-managed wireless services ranging from SMS/MMS to WAP For more information, please contact: Tom Van Blarcom / Ruthaiwan Tanwongwan Total Quality PR (Thailand) Co., Ltd., Tel: +66 (0) 2260 5820 Email: [email protected]