The New Jersey Nets took the honors in the NBA’s first regular-season game staged in Europe by beating the Toronto Raptors 116-103 on Friday.
With the Raptors and Nets anchored near the bottom of the Eastern Conference the game will have little significance other than marking another milestone in the NBA’s expansion plans.
Brook Lopez led the Nets with 25 points, while Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan had a game-high 30 in the first of two sell-out games at London’s O2 arena. The second game took place yesterday.
Photo: Reuters
Nets point guard Deron Williams, who was acquired in a blockbuster trade with the Utah Jazz late last month, scored 16 points and dished out 11 assists in his team’s first win in seven games.
“We were all a little worried about how the trip would affect us, whether fatigue would set in, but we had a lot of energy and definitely some bright spots,” Williams told reporters after the game.
London fans were treated to an entertaining match featuring much of the acrobatics and electricity the NBA has come to be known for.
A high-flying slam dunk by Toronto’s DeRozan halfway through the first quarter was met with another ferocious jam by Nets center Lopez a minute later that once again sent the sell-out crowd to their feet.
The league has played a handful of regular season games outside North America since holding its first in Japan in 1990, but had never played any in Europe.
The two London games, along with three recently-announced high profile matches to be played in Manchester over the next 18 months, are part of a push to bring professional basketball to Britain and the rest of Europe ahead of the London Olympics next year.
However, despite selling out almost every pre-season match played on the continent since 2007, a Europe-based NBA franchise looks a long way off.
NBA deputy commissioner Adam Silver said the league could be a decade away from having a team, let alone an entire division, based in Europe.
“NBA commissioner David Stern could see it happening with in the next 10 years ... [but] it depends on what we see this weekend [and] how basketball is received during the Olympics,” he said.
The influx of European players to the NBA in recent years also influenced the decision to hold this weekend’s games.
Combined, Toronto and New Jersey have seven international players on their rosters, with six hailing from Europe.
Mikhail Prokhorov, the billionaire owner of the Nets, also hails from Russia and is the first international NBA franchise owner.
However, regardless of the league’s growing popularity in Europe, Silver was reluctant to say whether the NBA would commit to playing regular seasons games there on an annual basis.
“I’m not so sure about every season,” he said.
SPURS 125, HEAT 95
In San Antonio, Texas, Manu Ginobili scored 20 points and Tony Parker made a surprise return to the starting lineup as the San Antonio Spurs handed the Miami Heat their most lopsided loss of the season.
In the first meeting between these NBA heavyweights, the Spurs (51-11) improved the league’s best record and kept the Heat in a tailspin.
Parker had 15 points and eight assists. He returned less than a week after the Spurs feared their point guard might miss up to a month with a strained calf.
LeBron James scored 26 points and Dwyane Wade had 19. It won’t get much easier for the Heat, who return home to play Chicago today.
BULLS 89, MAGIC 81
In Orlando, Florida, Derrick Rose had 24 points and Luol Deng added 16 to help Chicago hang on for a win over Orlando in a matchup of two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference.
Dwight Howard led Orlando with 20 points and 10 rebounds, but also picked up his 16th technical foul of the season. He faces a one-game suspension tomorrow against Portland if the foul is not rescinded by the NBA. Jason Richardson and Brandon Bass each chipped in 16 points.
In other NBA action, it was:
‧ Cavaliers 119, Knicks 115
‧ Celtics 107, Warriors 103
‧ Thunder 111, Hawks 104
‧ 76ers 111, Timberwolves 100
‧ Hornets 98, Grizzlies 91
‧ Lakers 92, Bobcats 84
‧ Suns 102, Bucks 88
‧ Mavericks 116, Pacers 108
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