SPORTS: Team Africa lose third NBA game

A close game between Team World and Team Afrcia at the Sun Arena ended with four points separating the two sides.

August 5, 2018

Liam Ngobeni 2 minutes read

Team Africa's Joel Embiid finishing a power dunk during the NBA Africa game at the Sun Arena on Saturday 4 August Photo: Ron Sibiya

A closely fought battle of buckets saw Team Africa fall short of a win by a mere four points as Team World took the win for the third time in a row in the annual match-up.

The sold-out game at the Sun Arena in Pretoria last night ended 96-92, with two teams trading blows up and down the court.

The first quarter saw the teams displaying some end-to-end action, trading buckets and lay-ups until Team World took the lead with an impressive 8-0 run, leaving Team Africa flatfooted and chasing the game with Bismack Biyombo sinking a free-throw to put the scores at 27-20.

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Things only got worse in the second quarter as Marvin Williams pushed the lead up to 12 points for Team World. Subsequent lay-ups from Luol Deng, who isn’t shy of driving to the rim, and a jumper by the giant Joel Embiid saw the second quarter end with a close score of 54-47 at halftime.

After an electrifying halftime performance by South African rapper, Cassper Nyovest, the third quarter began. Embiid was the star of the quarter, pulling off an impressive jumper from a three-point land coupled with some good defence on the other side of the court to foil Team World’s attempts to put in some distance and increase their lead.

The third, however, ended with Team World leading by 78-68.

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The fourth quarter saw Team Africa put in a concerted effort to chop Team Africa’s lead, with Embiid still being the front leader of Team Africa, but they still fell short of the win as the dying minutes of the final quarter saw beautiful plays and handles from Serge Ibaka and Embiid. The game ended with a close 96-92.

Embiid ended with an impressive 24 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

In a post-match interview, Ibaka told Rekord that it is always exciting to come to play in the African continent in front of an African crowd.

“It feels good to come and play back home for our people and to just see the love they have for the game.”

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He said it is possible for young basketball players in the continent to go professional in the sport – it just requires focus, discipline and commitment.

NBA commissioner, Adam Silver also revealed that a Pan-African League was on the books, but was still in the development stages as the arena infrastructure was not yet in place to support a league.

The game also saw a number of South African celebrities such as Pearl Thusi, Boity Thulo and Hlubi Mboya. In attendance also was Springbok captain, Siya Kolisi.