NASCAR Pennzoil 400 Race; Nuggets-Lakers Matchup: What’s On This Weekend in TV Sports (March 2-3)

Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets 2024
Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets will take on the L.A. Lakers in primetime Saturday. (Image credit: Amanda Loman/Getty Images)

 The first weekend of March will feature a busy schedule of TV sports events, including a Denver Nuggets-Los Angeles Lakers NBA primetime matchup and the NASCAR Cup Pennzoil 400 Race.  

ABC will televise Saturday’s game pitting the defending NBA champion Nuggets against LeBron James and the Lakers, while on Sunday the network will air the Philadelphia 76ers-Dallas Mavericks and Golden State Warriors-Boston Celtics games. Also on Sunday, ESPN will televise the New York Knicks-Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City-Phoenix Suns games.

On the racetrack, Fox on Sunday will offer the NASCAR Cup Pennzoil 400 race, while on the links, NBC and Golf Channel will offer weekend coverage of the Cognizant Classic PGA golf tournament. On the ice, TNT on Sunday will televise the New Jersey Devils-Los Angeles Kings contest. 

As college basketball moves closer to the start of March Madness, several top-ranked men’s programs are in action on Saturday, including top-ranked Houston playing Oklahoma on ESPN2, second-ranked Purdue battling Michigan State on Fox, fourth-ranked Tennessee meeting Alabama on ESPN and fifth-ranked Marquette taking on Creighton on Fox.

On Sunday, third-ranked UConn hosts Seton Hall on CBS. 

On the women’s side, Sunday’s action includes top-ranked South Carolina-Tennessee (ESPN), second-ranked Ohio State-Iowa (Fox), and fifth-ranked Virginia Tech-Virginia (ACC Network). On Saturday, Fourth-ranked Stanford meets Oregon on Pac-12 Network.

In the boxing ring, ESPN on Saturday will televise the featherweight championship fight between champion Luis Alberto Lopez and Reiya Abe. On DAZN, women’s featherweight champion Amanda Serrano battles Nina Meinke and YouTube star Jake Paul fights Ryan Bourland.  

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.