The past three days saw five cross-continental club games play out in Europe and the US in the 2012 Euroleague American and NBA Europe Live tours. And, hey, it’s Monday, so let’s just roll the highlight clips!
• Naturally, the biggest news was all about the lone upset among the games: Fenerbahçe Ülker’s 97-91 toppling of the Boston Celtics in Turkey. Bo McCalebb added to his already-heavy personal highlight film with several sweet plays and incredible speed. (Seriously, is he getting faster?) Directly below, he bamboozles Pierce (“Damn, he’s quick,” The Truth was surely thinking), blows past Rajon Rondo and finds Oguz Savas for an easy two after getting Brandon Bass to leave his feet…
Bo was the game’s second-high scorer with 21, chasing up teammate Romain Sato’s 24.
McCalebb’s dish to Savas made the list of NBA TV’s top five plays; among other highlights are Fab Melo’s insane rejection, an odd Celtics bucket which involved Darko Milicic (no, really) and of course more Bo.
• After Doc Rivers was pragmatic in the postgame following the Fenerbahçe loss, the Cs regrouped well for Emporio Armani Milano. Rajon Rondo looked in midseason form with 17 points and six assists in the 105-75 laugher.
And of all the spots in which NBA commissioner David Stern might have caught his teams’ matchups with the Euroleaguers, El Jefe chose Milan. Hey, he’s no dummy.
• In Germany, the Dallas Mavericks and Alba Berlin players didn’t participate in any extra promotional contests, but a few everyday folk got to hit the court at halftime – yeah, BiE’ll give up props to help make up some of their 15 minutes of fame…
As for the Dirk Bowl itself, the Mavs eked out an 89-84 win; Nowitzki was held to eight points as the Berlin defense focused on their countryman, but the Dastardly One put in the icing free throws with under 12 seconds remaining.
• Perhaps an indicator of their upcoming season (no, BiE’s not a big believer this time), Montepaschi Siena put up no fight at all against a coasting San Antonio Spurs team to lose 106-77 in Texas.
• Also ‘Stateside, Real Madrid looked a bit jetlagged in falling to the Memphis Grizzlies in Tennessee – yet still put in 93 points. As Sergio Rodriguez put it, “We wanted to compete in the game, and we did. Now we move on. … We came from Europe two days ago, and we had a long trip. That’s all we can ask for.”
The Euroleague American Tour 2012 closes tonight with matchups featuring Real Madrid at the Toronto Raptors and Montepaschi Siena at the Cleveland Cavaliers. NBA Europe Live 2012 finishes with the Dallas Mavericks at FC Barcelona Regal on Tuesday night – and you can reckon Stern will be there, too. Again, the man is no dummy.
