AUGUST 19, 2023 LAUSANNE (Switzerland) - Jonas Foerts scored 8 points in the final as his game-winning two sealed the win for Antwerp TOPdesk (BEL) 22-19 against Lausanne at the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Lausanne Masters on August 19. The Belgians had faced the home side earlier in the tournament, finding themselves on the losing end of an on-fire Lausanne that felt unstoppable up until the closing moments of the final. The matchup lived up to its billing of being physical and high-paced. Antwerp’s Bryan De Valck opened the scoring, securing two quick points in the paint. Carlos Martinez answered back with a two for the Swiss team. Not long after, a hard foul on the shifty guard Gilles Martin granted Lausanne with two free throws, handing them the short-lived advantage in a back-and-forth game. Foerts started raining from deep, putting up a huge two to shift things in the favor of the Belgian side. Both teams traded haymakers, none being able to hold the other back. With less than four minutes to go, Lausanne caught fire. Carlos Martinez drained a two to hand them the lead, much to the roar of the home crowd. Westher Molteni got another bucket to go before Martin seemingly drilled the dagger two to hand his side a 14-18 lead. But it would be Antwerp who would have the last laugh as De Valck hit a timely two. He picked up yet another bucket off a miss from Dennis Donkor. Foerts tied the game up with a quick layup over Molteni. With just under a minute to go and the scores posed at 20-19 in the favor of Antwerp, Foerts scored yet another game-winning two, this time the most significant one as Antwerp crowned themselves champions at the Lausanne Masters, their second-ever Masters win. Foerts was crowned MVP, finishing the event as top scorer with 43 points and with the highest Player Value with 46.1 In the Individual contests, Stefan Kojic (Liman Huishan NE) won the Maurice Lacroix Shoot-Out Contest, while Ukraine's Vadim "Miller" Piddubchenko won the Meanquest Dunk Contest. FINAL STANDINGS 1. Antwerp TOPdesk (BEL)
2. Lausanne (SUI)
3. Miami (USA)
4. Marijampole Mantiga (LTU)
5. Ub Huishan NE (SRB)
6. Versailles (FRA)
7. Liman Huishan NE (SRB)
8. Sant Feliu (ESP)
9. Ulaanbaatar MMC Energy (MGL)
10. Raudonvaris Hoptrans (LTU)
11. Princeton (USA)
12. Duuseldorf LFDY (GER)
13. Kandava Turiba (LAT)
14.Tel-Aviv (ISR) The World Tour action takes place in Hungary next as the Debrecen Masters take place on August 26-27.
### Exciting, urban and innovative, 3x3 is inspired by several forms of streetball played worldwide and is considered the world’s number one urban team sport. Steered by FIBA, games see two teams of three players face off on a basketball half-court. It was played successfully for the first time in international competition at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore and since then has benefited from the launch of a yearly professional circuit for men and women (World Tour and Women’s Series respectively) and national-team competitions. 3x3 made its Olympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Games. Wilson is the Global Ball Partner. Wilson is also the Apparel Partner, Maurice Lacroix the Official Timekeeper and Chooks-to-Go the Global Partner of the FIBA 3x3 World Tour 2023. FIBA 3x3 events are played on Enlio floors with Wilson balls, Schelde backstops, Bodet shot-clocks and the Magic Sky canopy system. For further information about 3x3, visit fiba3x3.basketball, FIBA 3x3 accounts on Douyin, Facebook, Instagram, Sina Weibo, Tencent, TikTok, Twitch, Twitter, Youku and YouTube or contact 3x3@fiba.basketball. NBA ANNOUNCES SCHEDULE FOR 2023-24 REGULAR SEASON – Opening Night (Tuesday, Oct. 24): Nuggets vs. Lakers and Warriors vs. Suns on TNT – – Christmas Day: Knicks-Bucks, Nuggets-Warriors, Lakers-Celtics, Heat-76ers and Suns-Mavericks Across ABC and ESPN – – NBA Rivals Week Returns in January; All 30 Teams Play on Final Day (Sunday, April 14) – NEW YORK, Aug. 17, 2023 – The NBA today released its complete game schedule and broadcast schedules for TNT, ESPN, ABC, NBA TV and ESPN Radio for the 2023-24 regular season. The day-by-day and team-by-team schedules are attached and available at NBA.com/schedule. The 78th NBA regular season will tip off on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023, and conclude on Sunday, April 14, 2024. The 2024 NBA Play-In Tournament will take place from Tuesday, April 16 – Friday, April 19, followed by the start of the 2024 NBA Playoffs presented by Google Pixel on Saturday, April 20. Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals presented by YouTube TV is set for Thursday, June 6. The regular-season schedule includes defined dates and opponents for 80 of each team’s 82 games, along with two games designated as TBD dates and opponents. Those two games for each team, to be played the week of Dec. 4, will be determined based on the results of Group Play games in the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament. The Group Play game schedule (Nov. 3-28) was announced on Aug. 15. Kia NBA Tip-Off 2023 The first five days of the 2023-24 NBA regular season (Oct. 24-28) will feature 10 national television games as part of Kia NBA Tip-Off 2023, with two doubleheaders each on TNT and ESPN and one on NBA TV. Those games will showcase 14 different teams, three rematches from the 2023 NBA Playoffs and rosters that currently include 17 NBA All-Star selections from last season and seven recipients of the Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award. The regular season will begin on Tuesday, Oct. 24 with a doubleheader on TNT, marking Warner Bros. Discovery Sports’ 40th consecutive year of NBA coverage. In the first game, the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets will receive their championship rings before hosting the Los Angeles Lakers in a rematch of last season’s Western Conference Finals (7:30 p.m. ET). In the second game, the Phoenix Suns will visit the Golden State Warriors (10 p.m. ET) as three-time NBA All-Star Bradley Beal of Phoenix and 12-time NBA All-Star Chris Paul of Golden State make regular-season debuts with new teams and Paul faces the team for whom he played the previous three seasons. ESPN will tip off its 22nd straight season of NBA telecasts on Wednesday, Oct. 25 with a doubleheader, which begins with the Boston Celtics visiting the New York Knicks (7 p.m. ET) in a matchup of teams that reached the Eastern Conference Finals and Eastern Conference Semifinals, respectively, last season. The San Antonio Spurs will host the Dallas Mavericks in the second game (9:30 p.m. ET), marking the NBA regular-season debut of 2023 first overall draft pick Victor Wembanyama of San Antonio. On Thursday, Oct. 26, intraconference rivalries will highlight TNT’s doubleheader as the Milwaukee Bucks host the Philadelphia 76ers (7:30 p.m. ET) and the Suns take on the Lakers in Los Angeles (10 p.m. ET). ESPN’s doubleheader on Friday, Oct. 27 will have the Miami Heat meeting the Celtics in Boston (7:30 p.m. ET) and the Warriors visiting the Sacramento Kings (10 p.m. ET) – rematches from seven-game playoff series in last season’s Eastern Conference Finals and Western Conference First Round, respectively. NBA TV will begin its live game coverage of the new season on Saturday, Oct. 28 as the Knicks visit the New Orleans Pelicans (7 p.m. ET) and the Suns host the Utah Jazz (10 p.m. ET). Christmas Day The NBA will feature five games on Christmas Day (Monday, Dec. 25) for the 16th year in a row, with ABC or ESPN televising each matchup. The 76th edition of the NBA on Christmas Day will tip off on ESPN as the Bucks face the Knicks in New York (noon ET). The next two games will air on both ABC and ESPN. The two most recent recipients of the Larry O’Brien Trophy will go head-to-head when the 2022 NBA champion Warriors visit the 2023 NBA champion Nuggets (2:30 p.m. ET). Next, the Lakers will host the Celtics (5 p.m. ET) as the longtime rivals meet on Christmas Day for the first time in 15 years. The Christmas Day schedule will conclude with two more games on ESPN, with the 76ers taking on the Heat in Miami (8 p.m. ET) and the Mavericks playing the Suns in Phoenix (10:30 p.m. ET). Martin Luther King Jr. Day On Monday, Jan. 15, the NBA family will celebrate one of its most important traditions by honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The celebration will include four nationally televised games. In a TNT doubleheader, the Atlanta Hawks will face the Spurs (3:30 p.m. ET) and the Grizzlies will meet the Warriors (6 p.m. ET) as Atlanta and Memphis continue their traditions of hosting games on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. NBA TV will also air two games: Houston Rockets at 76ers (1 p.m. ET) and Oklahoma City Thunder at Lakers (10:30 p.m. ET). NBA Rivals Week Classic and budding rivalries between teams and players will take center stage for the second annual NBA Rivals Week in January. Rivalries will be the focus of all 11 nationally televised games across four networks (TNT, ESPN, ABC and NBA TV) over five days from Tuesday, Jan. 23 – Saturday, Jan. 27. NBA Rivals Week will culminate with an ABC tripleheader on Jan. 27, including 2023 Conference Semifinals rematches between the Heat and Knicks in New York (3 p.m. ET) and the Lakers and Warriors in San Francisco (8:30 p.m. ET). In between those two games, reigning Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid and the 76ers will visit two-time Kia NBA MVP Nikola Jokić and the Nuggets (5:30 p.m. ET) in a matchup of centers who have been the top two finishers in MVP voting in each of the last three seasons. The complete game and broadcast schedule for NBA Rivals Week is available here. Election Day For the second consecutive season, no NBA games have been scheduled for Election Day (Tuesday, Nov. 7) as the league will continue to encourage fans and the broader NBA community to make a plan to vote and participate in the civic process. As part of this initiative, the NBA will share important resources from voting organizations and highlight the civic engagement work of teams in their markets. Final Day of Regular Season All 30 teams will play on the final day of the regular season (Sunday, April 14). In an effort to maximize competitive fairness, the seven games between Eastern Conference teams will begin at 1 p.m. ET, and the seven games between Western Conference teams and the one cross-conference game will start at 3:30 p.m. ET. ESPN will televise a doubleheader, with the matchups to be determined at a later date. NBA Global Games NBA TV will televise both Global Games on the 2023-24 regular-season schedule. As previously announced, the Hawks will meet the Orlando Magic in The NBA Mexico City Game 2023 on Thursday, Nov. 9 at the Arena CDMX in Mexico City (9:30 p.m. ET), and the Brooklyn Nets will take on the Cleveland Cavaliers in The NBA Paris Game 2024 on Thursday, Jan. 11 at the Accor Arena in Paris (2 p.m. ET). NBA In-Season Tournament NBA-In-Season Tournament Group Play games for all 30 teams will take place on Tuesdays and Fridays in November, with TNT, ESPN and NBA TV combining to televise 16 games. Eight teams will advance to the Knockout Rounds, which consist of single-elimination games in the Quarterfinals (Monday, Dec. 4 and Tuesday, Dec. 5), Semifinals (Thursday, Dec. 7) and Championship (Saturday, Dec. 9). The national broadcast schedule for the Knockout Rounds will be announced at a later date. More National Television Matchups • 2023 NBA Finals rematches between the Nuggets and Heat will take place on Thursday, Feb. 29 in Denver on TNT (10 p.m. ET) and on Wednesday, March 13 in Miami on ESPN (7:30 p.m. ET). • The top two picks in the 2023 NBA Draft – No. 1 pick Wembanyama of the Spurs and No. 2 pick Brandon Miller of the Charlotte Hornets – are scheduled to meet for the first time in the regular season when San Antonio hosts Charlotte on Friday, Jan. 12 on ESPN (10 p.m. ET). • Also on Jan. 12, ESPN will present the first nationally televised matchup between twin brothers and NBA rookies Amen Thompson of the Rockets and Ausar Thompson of the Detroit Pistons – the fourth and fifth picks in the 2023 NBA Draft, respectively – when Houston visits Detroit (7:30 p.m. ET). • Three-time NBA Hustle Award recipient and 2021-22 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart of the Grizzlies, who played the previous nine seasons with the Celtics, will play his first game in Boston as a visitor on Sunday, Feb. 4 on ESPN (6 p.m. ET). • The first national television matchup between the top two picks in the 2022 NBA Draft – No. 1 pick and 2022-23 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year Paolo Banchero of the Magic and No. 2 pick Chet Holmgren of the Thunder – is set for Tuesday, Feb. 13 in Orlando on TNT (7:30 p.m. ET). • Leading into NBA All-Star 2024, TNT will feature a single game on Thursday, Feb. 15, with the Bucks visiting the Grizzlies (8:30 p.m. ET). Additional Schedule Highlights • All 30 teams are scheduled to make at least one appearance on TNT or ESPN in the 2023-24 regular season. The NBA on TNT, ESPN, ABC and NBA TV will present flexible scheduling throughout the regular season to provide the most compelling matchups to a national audience. • The team average for back-to-backs involving travel between games has been reduced to a record-low 9.0. The previous low was 9.6 last season. • Primetime weeknight doubleheaders across TNT (Tuesdays and Thursdays) and ESPN (Wednesdays and Fridays) will again be played at 7:30 p.m. ET/10 p.m. ET except for one instance during the first week of the season. • ABC will televise 16 games as part of its two weekend series, NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC (which tips off with the Jan. 27 tripleheader during NBA Rivals Week) and NBA Sunday Showcase (which begins with Celtics at Heat on Feb. 11 at 2 p.m. ET). • NBA TV will feature Center Court throughout the season, the network’s marquee night of programming, which incorporates enhanced viewing options into an originally produced telecast. In the season debut of the franchise, the Warriors will visit the Pelicans on Monday, Oct. 30 (8 p.m. ET). • ESPN Radio will broadcast 25 games in the regular season, including Nuggets-Lakers on opening night, Knicks-Bucks and Nuggets-Warriors on Christmas Day, and Hawks-Spurs on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. • NBA League Pass will offer live, out-of-market games all season through the NBA App, NBA.com, connected televisions and TV providers. Fans can unlock direct access to stream matchups featuring their favorite teams and players with NBA League Pass (blackout restrictions apply). For more information, visit NBA.com/leaguepass. • The regular season will feature 39 games that will air in primetime in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) as part of “NBA Saturdays and NBA Sundays presented by NBA 2K23.” • The 2024 NBA Finals presented by YouTube TV and the 2024 Eastern Conference Finals will be exclusively televised by ABC and ESPN/ABC, respectively. TNT will exclusively televise the 2024 Western Conference Finals and the 2024 NBA All-Star Game, which will be played on Sunday, Feb. 18 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
• NBA games and programming are available in 214 countries and territories in more than 50 languages.
NBA ANNOUNCES GROUP PLAY SCHEDULE
FOR INAUGURAL IN-SEASON TOURNAMENT – ESPN and TNT to Televise Group Play Games on Tuesdays and Fridays in November – NEW YORK, Aug. 15, 2023 – The NBA today released its complete game schedule and national television matchups for Group Play of the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament, which will tip off on Friday, Nov. 3 during the 2023-24 regular season. The complete game schedule and national broadcast schedule for the 2023-24 regular season will be announced on Thursday, Aug. 17. Group Play games, the first of two stages in the In-Season Tournament, will take place on Tuesdays and Fridays in November. On these “Tournament Nights,” the only NBA games scheduled will be Group Play games. ESPN and TNT will combine to air 14 games during Group Play. The first Tournament Night (Nov. 3) will feature a doubleheader on ESPN as the New York Knicks visit the Milwaukee Bucks (7:30 p.m. ET) and the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets host the Dallas Mavericks (10 p.m. ET). TNT will begin its Group Play broadcasts on Tuesday, Nov. 14, when the San Antonio Spurs visit the Oklahoma City Thunder (7:30 p.m. ET) and the Nuggets take on the LA Clippers in Denver (10 p.m. ET). The national television schedule for Group Play includes three rematches from the 2023 NBA Playoffs. The reigning Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat will visit the Knicks on Friday, Nov. 24 (7:30 p.m. ET/ESPN) and host the Bucks on Tuesday, Nov. 28 (7:30 p.m. ET/TNT), and the Golden State Warriors will visit the Sacramento Kings on Nov. 28 (10 p.m. ET/TNT). NBA TV’s live game coverage of Group Play will consist of a doubleheader on Friday, Nov. 24, with the Orlando Magic hosting the Boston Celtics (2:30 p.m. ET) and the Phoenix Suns visiting the Memphis Grizzlies (5 p.m. ET). Each team will play four designated Group Play games from Nov. 3-28 – one game against each opponent in its group, with two games at home and two games on the road. As previously announced, all 30 teams have been randomly drawn into groups of five within their conference based on win-loss records from the 2022-23 regular season. The groups are below: NBA IN-SEASON TOURNAMENT GROUPS | | Western Conference | | | | Eastern Conference | | West Group A | | West Group B | | West Group C | | | | East Group A | | East Group B | | East Group C | | Memphis | | Denver | | Sacramento | | T | | Philadelphia | | Milwaukee | | Boston | | Phoenix | | LA Clippers | | Golden State | | | | Cleveland | | New York | | Brooklyn | | L.A. Lakers | | New Orleans | | Minnesota | | | | Atlanta | | Miami | | Toronto | | Utah | | Dallas | | Oklahoma City | | | | Indiana | | Washington | | Chicago | | Portland | | Houston | | San Antonio | | | | Detroit | | Charlotte | | Orlando | |
Eight teams (four per conference) will advance from Group Play into the second stage of the In-Season Tournament, the Knockout Rounds. The advancing teams will be the six group winners and two “wild cards” (the team from each conference with the best record in Group Play games that finished second in its group). The tiebreaker procedures are available here. The Knockout Rounds will consist of single-elimination games in the Quarterfinals (Monday, Dec. 4 and Tuesday, Dec. 5), Semifinals (Thursday, Dec. 7) and Championship (Saturday, Dec. 9). The national broadcast schedule for the Knockout Rounds will be announced at a later date. The Quarterfinals will be played in NBA team markets. The Semifinals and Championship will take place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, with tickets on sale now at NBAEvents.com. The 67 games across both stages of the In-Season Tournament will count toward the regular-season standings except the Championship. Each team will continue to play 82 regular-season games in the 2023-24 season, including those games that are part of Group Play and the Knockout Rounds. Added Regular-Season Games Each of the 22 teams that do not advance to the Quarterfinals of the In-Season Tournament will be assigned two regular-season games (one home game and one away game) that will be played on Wednesday, Dec. 6 and Friday, Dec. 8. A formulaic approach will determine the matchups for these 22 games using the Group Play standings in each conference (fifth through 15th). Two of the 22 games will be scheduled cross-conference because there will be an odd number of teams in each conference that do not advance to the Quarterfinals. These cross-conference games will be scheduled between bottom-finishing teams in Group Play subject to travel constraints, and no team will play more than one of its two games cross-conference. The other 20 games will be scheduled within conference featuring teams that are otherwise scheduled to play each other three times over the course of the season wherever possible. The losing teams in the Quarterfinals in each conference will play each other in a regular-season game on Dec. 8. # # # Luka Doncic headlines 'Nothing Else Matters' global campaign launch |
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AUGUST 14, 2023MIES (Switzerland) - The FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 has launched its global creative campaign 'Nothing Else Matters' ahead of the highly anticipated men's flagship event getting underway later this month.
The selection of players showing the broad cross-section of talent at the World Cup is headlined by global superstar Luka Doncic, China's anchor Zhou Qi and two host countries' heroes - Philippines' ace Jordan Clarkson and Japan's leader Yuta Watanabe.
The original creative, developed in-house, merges the personal off-season hobbies of the players with their unique on-court talents in a manner that is sure to delight fans.
To provide fans with unique access to their heroes and convey authentic storytelling, each player was shot in iconic locations strongly tied to their paths. Doncic was filmed in Ljubljana, Clarkson in San Antonio, Watanabe in Miyazaki and Qi in Qingdao City.
State-of-the-art filming techniques and computer-generated imagery were used to create a smooth transition for each player from their personal leisure time into the intensity of a FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 battle which delivers a fusion of action, basketball skills and stunning locations. All of those elements have all been combined to provide an exciting, kinetic film that will bring to life the #NothingElseMatters message globally. |
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 | | FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Global Campaign Launch |
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The production was led by UK agency Be Media and directed by Will Clark Smith.
Leaving aside their off-season hobbies, stars from 32 countries are slated to compete at the upcoming FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, set to tip-off on August 25 across the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia and concluding with the Final to be held on September 10 in Manila at the Mall Of Asia Arena.
A select number of preparation games will be available to watch on Courtside 1891 with Max or World Cup bundle and even some for free on Plus (subject to geographical restrictions). |
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