All The Highlights From The NBA’s Action-Packed Africa Game

The NBA held its second-ever NBA Africa game on Saturday between the Team Africa and Team World squads, both loaded with talent from around the league. While the defensive effort may not have looked NBA quality in the exhibition game held the first weekend of August, the highlights certainly were.

Victor Oladipo got things started early with a reverse alley-oop that got the Team Africa fans going early on.

New York Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis played for Team World on Saturday and had himself a sensational first half, starting with a remarkable tip-in after a lob. He leaped up to get a slight tip on a Kyle Lowry lob, just getting enough of a touch on it to send it to the hoop.

The iso look at that play from Lowry for the lob and the improbable finish for Kristaps. He looked great on Saturday, which would be exciting for Cleveland Cavaliers fans if, you know, there was any chance a Kyrie Irving-for-Kristaps trade would happen.

After the game he even had time to take a nice selfie.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXYr3BLjGI0/

There were lots of highlights in this one, including a Jaylen Brown pass off the backboard to Andre Drummond for a Team World dunk.

Hollis Jefferson also threw down a nice alley-oop from Courtney Lee in the third quarter.

Team World built a nice lead in the third quarter, but Team Africa mounted a bit of a comeback before falling, 108-97, in the second annual event. NBA.com put together a nice highlight package of the fourth quarter, which was a tight game right down to the end.

Oladipo was the game’s MVP, with 29 points, nine rebounds, and five assists. The new Indiana Pacers forward was pumped about taking home the trophy.

Afteward, he spoke about the impact of playing in an event like this, which spreads far beyond the game itself.

“It’s just a blessing to be able to come here and experience this country,” Oladipo said. “I mean, the game is huge but I think the true meaning of coming here is the people and the kids and the families we inspire. We came here, we built houses, we visited orphanages and we did a great job just overall in being bigger than ourselves, meaning giving back to others. I had an awesome time here, it was a very humbling experience.”

Oladipo also spoke about his Nigerian heritage and how proud he is of the initiative, and he should be. You can see how important the week was to him, both on and off the court.