Thursday, January 16, 2014 was a monumental day in the NBA. David Stern’s mission of global expansion reached new heights as the league played a regular season game at the O2 Arena in London, England.
Here’s everything you need to know about the NBA’s trip to London and everything else that transpired during last night’s action.
1. The Brooklyn Nets and Atlanta Hawks gave the O2 Arena a game to remember with a display of offensive mastery. Brooklyn prevailed over Atlanta by a score of 127-110, riding another big performance from its embattled stars
Joe Johnson ripped off 29 points against his former team, Andray Blatche scored 20, and Paul Pierce added 18 as the Nets improved to 16-22. Shelvin Mack matched his career-high with 17 points, but it wasn’t enough for Atlanta in England.
2. Kyle Korver was just 1-of-9 from the field, but that one make was a 3-point field goal. Thus, his NBA-record streak was extended to 108 straight games with at least one shot converted from beyond the arc.
In that time, Korver has converted a trifecta in three separate countries: the United States of America, Canada and England.
3. Back in the United States, the Indiana Pacers defeated the New York Knicks 117-89. Lance Stephenson led the way with a career-high 28 points, Paul George scored 25 and Danny Granger put up 11 in 20 minutes as Indiana improved to a league-best 31-7.
Carmelo Anthony scored 28 for New York, but 18 of those points came during the first quarter.
4. The Oklahoma City Thunder put on a defensive clinic en route to a 104-92 victory over the Houston Rockets. After scoring 73 points in the first half—the third-most in any half by any team this season—Houston managed just 19 during the final two quarters.
That’s right, OKC held the NBA’s No. 4 scoring offense to 19 second half points. 19.
That 54-point margin in scoring from one half to the next is the largest in NBA history.
5. OKC’s offense came to play, with Kevin Durant scoring 35 points and Reggie Jackson adding 23. The star of the day, however, was Serge Ibaka, who finished with 21 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks on 10-of-13 shooting.
Dwight Howard is the only other player this season to post at least 20 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks in the same game.
Bonus Fact: Indiana is a league-best 20-1 at home and 20-0 in games in which they hold opponents under 90 points. The Pacers are 11-7 when teams do eclipse the 90-point threshold.
Hi mates, how is all, and what you would like to say about this post,
in my view its genuinely amazing for me.