CHARLOTTE, North Carolina, 16 October 2004 — National Basketball Association newcomers the Charlotte Bobcats got their first taste of heartbreak as their first pre-season game ended in a one-point double-overtime defeat by the Washington Wizards.
Antawn Jamison hit a turnaround jumper in the lane with 6.8 seconds remaining to lift the Wizards to a 126-125 victory. With Washington trailing by a point, Jamison dribbled into the lane, spun and hit the game’s final basket. Charlotte’s Jason Hart missed a jumper as time expired.
Jamison’s basket deflated the Bobcats, who had forced the second extra session when Hart made a three-pointer as the first overtime ended to tie the game at 116-116.
Jamison, the NBA Sixth Man Award winner with Dallas last season, scored 20 points, including four down the stretch in the first overtime to help the Wizards edge ahead.
Jarvis Hayes had 31 points and 14 rebounds for the Wizards, who played for the third time in four nights. The Wizards, who trailed by 10 with less than six minutes left in the fourth quarter, were 40-of-46 from the free throw line.
Gilbert Arenas, who endured an injury-plagued 2003-04 season, left in the fourth quarter after hurting his knee. He finished with 18 points and free agent signee Anthony Peeler chipped in 19 off the bench.
Gerald Wallace and Primoz Brezec scored 26 points apiece and Hart added 19 for the Bobcats, who gave the nearly 10,000 at Charlotte Coliseum a thrilling opening. They erased a 12-point deficit with a 20-2 run spanning the end of the third and start of the fourth periods. Charlotte rookie center Emeka Okafor, selected second overall in the NBA draft, had 18 points and four rebounds, incuding a dunk in the final minute of regulation that gave Charlotte a 102-99 lead.
NBA Considering Taking Games to China
Meanwhile, the NBA is considering playing some of its regular season games in China, commissioner David Stern said in Beijing yesterday.
The Sacramento Kings and Houston Rockets, team of Chinese national Yao Ming, are playing pre-season games in Shanghai and Beijing. With a rocketing economy and a population of over 1.3 billion, China offers huge marketing prospects — and the NBA’s popularity is growing.
Stern said a season game in China was under discussion. “I don’t know how and I don’t know when, because the cost could be quite great,” he told a news conference. “But certainly I can say we are watching with great interest the construction of the Olympic basketball arena.
“When it is finished, we think a good way to inaugurate the arena would be with such an NBA game.”
Beijing will host the 2008 Olympic Games. Yao’s Houston Rockets beat the Sacramento Kings 88-86 on Thursday, in the first NBA game to be played in China.
The 24-year-old center was one of the first Chinese nationals to be allowed to head to the NBA. He was taken by the Rockets as the top draft choice of 2002 and has established himself as one of the game’s premier players.
China’s basketball hopeful Liu Wei improved his chances of becoming the first Asian point guard to make the NBA after putting in a spirited performance with the Sacramento Kings in the defeat by the Yao Ming-led Houston Rockets.
“What I was impressed most about was in his first NBA game, he played with great confidence,” Houston coach Jeff Van Gundy said in Beijing yesterday.
Van Gundy said Liu ran Sacramento’s offense well in Thursday’s game in Shanghai, was aggressive looking to score and was quick. “I was really impressed with how he played last night. I thought he handled himself extremely well.”
In the close 88-86 loss in Shanghai, Liu scored just two points, had one assist and three rebounds, but most importantly had no turnovers in 19 minutes of play.
Yao, who played with his hometown friend for 10 years in junior leagues and with the Shanghai Sharks of China’s professional league, led Houston with 14 points and had seven rebounds.
To the disappointment of the fans, Liu passed up a chance to tie the game in the final seconds when he opted not to shoot, but instead passed the ball to forward Darius Songalia whose last second shot was blocked.
“He did a very good job last night,” Sacramento coach Rick Adelman said.
“He made the right play, he got the ball to Darius Songolia in the post who had a chance to score.”
Adelman said that Liu would get another chance to play tomorrow when the two teams meet in Beijing.
