Dallas Mavericks to face Houston Rockets during pre-season at NBA China Games in Macau
This year marks the second of a five-year deal to bring NBA teams to China, after first edition featured Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns
Basketball fans from around the world can now start planning their trip to Macau after the NBA announced the teams and dates for this year’s NBA China Games on Tuesday.
The two upcoming matches will mark the second year of a five-year deal between the NBA and Sands China to host the China Games.
The first edition last year featured the Brooklyn Nets and the Phoenix Suns playing two games in front of a combined attendance of 22,634.
Future Games are expected to feature the Portland Trail Blazers, who drafted Chinese centre Yang Hansen as a No 16 pick last summer, and the Boston Celtics, partly owned by Mario Ho Yau-kwan, the youngest son of the late Macau casino magnate Stanley Ho Hung-sun.
NBA Deputy Commissioner and chief operating officer (COO) Mark Tatum said last year’s China Games showed “how much passion and enthusiasm” there was for the NBA among fans in China and across Asia.