Basketball fans in Taiwan have a chance to watch NBA players in a series of FIBA World Cup warm-up matches at the Sinjhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City from Saturday to Tuesday.
The men’s national basketball teams from Lithuania, Latvia and Puerto Rico are to play three exhibition games, featuring an opening match between Lithuania and Puerto Rico that is to begin at 2pm on Saturday, said the T1 League, which is organizing the event.
Puerto Rico are to play Latvia in the second exhibition game at 2pm on Sunday, while Latvia and Lithuania are to square off at 7pm on Tuesday, the league said in a statement.
Photo: AFP
The exhibition games are being held ahead of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, which is to be held from Friday next week to Sept. 10 in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.
Among the NBA players taking part in the event are the New Orlean Pelicans’ Jonas Valanciunas, and the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Davis Bertans.
The Washington Wizards’ Kristaps Porzingis of Latvia was due to play in New Taipei City, but on Tuesday wrote on social media platform X that he would miss the World Cup because of a foot issue called plantar fasciitis.
Fan events are to be held on Saturday and Sunday 30 minutes after the games for people who have bought tickets that day, the T1 League said.
The fan event on Saturday is to feature Lithuania players Valanciunas and Rokas Jokubaitis, while Latvia’s Bertans is to attend the one on Sunday.
Up to 30 people who spend NT$1,500 or more at the gymnasium shop that day can high-five the players, and up to five fans who spend NT$3,000 or more can take a photograph with them, the league said.
Tickets for the exhibition games can be purchased on tixcraft.
Additional reporting by Reuters
Juventus on Sunday stopped Inter from replacing SSC Napoli at the top of Serie A by beating their fierce rivals 1-0 and moving into the UEFA Champions League positions. Francisco Conceicao made sure that Napoli would stay two points ahead of reigning champions Inter by classily tucking home the winning goal 16 minutes before the end of an entertaining contest in Turin. Portugal attacker Conceicao netted his fourth goal of the season in all competitions after brilliant work from Randal Kolo Muani to give Juve a third straight league win. Juve are in fourth place on 46 points, ahead on goal-difference from SS
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is considering reducing its pitch clock by two seconds to help players better adjust to the rules applied at the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The proposal aims to shorten the pitch timer from 25 seconds to 23 seconds with the bases empty, and from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base. Currently, the WBC mandates that pitchers deliver a pitch every 18 seconds with the bases empty and 15 seconds with runners on base. The issue was raised during a pre-season CPBL managers’ meeting on Tuesday by Rakuten Monkeys bench and batting
BELGIANS ADVANCE: Club Brugge gave Atalanta a lesson in efficiency, as Gian Piero Gasperini’s team had 29 efforts at goal, compared with seven from the visitors Seldom has a player’s sending off had such an influence on a game. AC Milan was to left rue Theo Hernandez’s second yellow card — for diving — as Feyenoord advanced to the UEFA Champions League last 16 at the former European champion’s expense with a 1-1 draw in the second leg of their playoff on Tuesday, giving the Dutch team a 2-1 win on aggregate. Bayern Munich, Club Brugge and Benfica also won their playoffs, eliminating Celtic, UEFA Europa League winner Atalanta BC and French team AS Monaco respectively. “In soccer everything changes in a second,” said Milan forward
Starting with three fights in the first nine seconds and ending with a celebration and a spot in the 4 Nations Face-Off final, the US on Saturday delivered exactly what Matthew Tkachuk hoped for by beating Canada. “We needed to send a message,” Tkachuk said. “The message we wanted to send is ‘It’s our time.’” Tkachuk fought Brandon Hagel off the opening faceoff, brother Brady tussled with Sam Bennett the next time the puck dropped, J.T. Miller dropped the gloves with Colton Parayko next and the Americans followed those fisticuffs with a 3-1 victory over their biggest rival. “That was one of the
RSS