Week 144: Timberwolves vs. Nuggets

Week 144: September 28th-October 4th, 2025

San Diego may be America's finest city, but one department it is seriously lacking in is professional sports. Most notably, we have the San Diego Padres, who just flopped (once again) in the the NL Wild Card Series for professional baseball, and a professional soccer team for both men's (San Diego FC) and women's (San Diego Wave FC). San Diego also hosts the San Diego Seals for the NLL, the California Legion, San Diego's professional rugby team, the San Diego Strike Force (indoor football), and the San Diego Sockers (indoor soccer).

Also, a major loss was in 2017, when the San Diego Chargers left and went to become the Los Angeles Chargers, yet another blue and yellow team in LA (Rams, Bruins, who else?). That was a turning point for Qualcomm stadium, which became SDCCU Stadium, and then was demolished in 2021. In its place stands Snapdragon Stadium, which now just hosts the (frustratingly mediocre) San Diego Aztecs when it comes to football.

In regard to professional basketball, which is my preferred sport to watch, San Diego has "hosted the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s San Diego Rockets from 1967 to 1971 (now the Houston Rockets) and San Diego Clippers from 1978 to 1984 (now the Los Angeles Clippers), and the now-defunct American Basketball Association (ABA)'s San Diego Conquistadors/Sails from 1972 to 1975, prior to the 1976 ABA–NBA merger" (per Wikipedia). So, in other words, we have pretty much nothing to offer here in San Diego when it comes to the NBA. I will note that we currently do have claim to the San Diego Clippers, the minor league team here for the NBA G League... but they play up in Oceanside at Frontwave Arena (see Week 106), and that is a bit of a drive.

All of this to say, I jumped at the idea of a professional basketball game in San Diego, even if it was just a pre-season game. The Denver Nuggets and the Minnesota Timberwolves faced off in the pre-season here at Pechanga Arena, and I was glad to go.

We bent the rules a bit (and thankfully got away with it) by parking at the Target down the street and walking a few blocks to the arena to avoid exorbitant parking fees and congestion. I saw many random jerseys being worn, such as the Chicago Bulls, the Lakers, and... FC Barcelona (?)... This is to be expected in a city full of transplants, but a slight majority of fans did seem to be rooting for Denver. There were a ton of families in line for the Denver Nuggets merchandise and I felt empathetic to those parents' wallets as their kids pointed at the $140 jerseys.

Tickets in the cheaper sections (we were in T24) were about $51 each, and in the future I'd be willing to spend a little more to be closer to the court... and away from the many families with young kids who keep moving around and blocking your view...

Despite many bobbing children's heads, our view was decent because the arena is pretty small.

I got this from Pechanga Arena's website. Our seats (T24, Row 12, Seats 3 and 4) were around where I put the green arrow.

Our view from T24, Row 12, Seats 3 and 4 at Pechanga Arena

I took the photo above before warmups even started, but you can kind of get the idea of the arena and our seats. The game was decent, though Anthony Edwards did not play for Minnesota. We did get to see Rudy Gobert, Donte DiVincenzo, and one of my favorites, Naz Reid. For the Denver Nuggets, who were considered the "home" team, we got to see a very... fluffy-looking... Nikola Jokić play. Now I'm not one to body shame, (see Stephen A. Smith's famous rant on Zion Williamson for some serious fat-shaming), but it did appear that Jokić was quite... let's say well-fed in the off season...

Both teams mainly played their bench, but we got some fun moments. You can see some game highlights here, if you'd like. Anyway, the final score of the game was 126-116 with the Timberwolves showing the "home" team of the Nuggets that they weren't messing around, even if it was a pre-season game. Of course, neither team played much defense, but it was still very fun to watch.

I took this from the Lower Level when I was going to the bathroom.

In terms of venues, Pechanga arena leaves some things to be desired. I've been before for some concerts, and this time around confirmed that it definitely could use some updating. The entire building somehow feels cramped, but still echo-y, if that even makes sense, and the bathrooms were very outdated. The seats weren't uncomfortable, per say, but I would not have liked to stay longer than we did.

I desperately wish San Diego would be graced with one (1), singular NBA team. Dear basketball gods, please consider this request. I would never betray my beloved Golden State Warriors, but it would be nice to have more of a professional basketball sports culture here in San Diego.

Looking forward to the regular season of the NBA and the transition from summer to fall. I did get 30 random likes on a comment I made on a @betches Instagram post, so that was nice.

See you next week.