ESPN have secured a deal with the National Basketball Association to show live coverage of games in the UK and Ireland.

The partnership includes coverage of three live games a week as well as the first and second rounds of the NBA playoffs, NBA All Star game and the NBA finals.

ESPN EMEA head of programming and production Simon Potter said: "We're very pleased to have the NBA returning to ESPN this season and are looking forward to getting straight into the action and bringing UK and Ireland fans the world's top basketball league with some great early match-ups."

ESPN will begin their coverage on Thursday night with a clash between the New York Knicks and Miami Heat.