Sold out crowd enjoys first ever NBA regular season game at the O2 arena (Tom Jenkins/The Guardian)
The Toronto Raptors (17-46) have landed back in city of Toronto after dropping two games to the New Jersey Nets (19-43) in London England. The Raptors and New Jersey Nets were scheduled to play in two regular season games, the first time in NBA history that a regular season game was being played outside of North America.
NBA International President Heidi Ueberroth told NBA.com, “We think it’s the perfect time and bringing regular-season games to Europe is really the next step in the development of our fan base.”
The Raptors and Nets played back-to-back games at London’s O2 arena. This isn’t the first time the league has played games in London; they have been the stage for exhibition games in the past.
In the first match up, Deron Williams and Brooke Lopez led the Nets to a 116-103 victory. Williams recorded his fourth straight double-double since being traded from the Utah Jazz.
In the final game of the London series, the Raptors and Nets played the wildest game of the season. The game took three overtimes before the Nets prevailed, 137-136. Andrea Bargnani led all players with 35 points. Up and coming second year player, DeMar DeRozan, averaged 30 points in both games.
“We kept fighting the whole time. We were seven points down but we came back and had the chance for a win. It’s a tough loss but we played every minute,” said Jose Calderon in the losing effort.
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