The National Basketball League (NBA) left its mark in Taiwan last night with the Indiana Pacers topping the Denver Nuggets 126-104 at the Taipei Arena in the first-ever exhibition game played in the nation.
The highly anticipated showdown saw more than its share of local celebrities, as well as having league commissioner David Stern and NBA legend Larry Bird (serving as the Pacers’ president of Basketball Operations) in attendance. It lived up to its hype as the sellout crowd was treated to some action from top stars that included a two-handed slam dunk by Nuggets’ Chris Andersen in the second quarter and three straight three-pointers by Pacers standout Danny Granger to jumpstart the Indiana offense in the first quarter.
Even though the outcome of the contest was not close by NBA standards, the authentic game experience was fully absorbed and enjoyed by those who were fortunate enough to make it, whether it was the Nuggets Dancers that kept the house entertained with their impressive moves, or the Pacers’ acrobatic courtside slam-dunking stunt crew named the Power Pack that showed there is more to basketball than the game itself.
PHOTO: CHANG CHIA-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
The Pacers needed little time to find its range by scoring the game’s first 10 points, before the Nuggets fought back with 11 first-quarter points by Carmelo Anthony to end the quarter trailing 24-32.
The Pacers continued their dominance with above-50 percent shooting from the field (compared with the Nuggets’ 36 percent through the third quarter) to lead by as many as 24 before running away with the win in the end.
Leading a balanced attack for the victorious Pacers was a trio of 20-point scorers in Troy Murphy, Brandon Rush and Roy Hibbert, while the Nuggets looked to Anthony’s team-high 17 points with four rebounds in the 20 minutes he played.
PHOTO: CHANG CHIA-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
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