List of games played between NBA and international teams

The following is a history of the list of games played between NBA and international teams. Teams from the National Basketball Association (NBA) have played numerous basketball games against various international teams from around the world. NBA teams, from both the United States and Canada, have played many games against international clubs from various different basketball leagues, as well as against some league all-star teams and senior national teams.

Prior to 2003, these games were played under a mixture of both NBA and FIBA rules, with most of the rules being NBA rules. Since 2003, the games played between NBA and international teams have been played under NBA rules, and with NBA referees.

History

One of the first basketball games between an NBA and a FIBA (international) team was held in 1978, in Tel Aviv, Israel. Maccabi Tel Aviv of the EuroLeague and Israeli League surprisingly beat the defending NBA champions, the Washington Bullets, by a score of 98–97.^[1]

Since then, 6 other EuroLeague teams have defeated an NBA franchise: Barcelona, Málaga and Real Madrid from the Spanish League, CSKA Moscow of the Russian top-tier level VTB United League, Fenerbahçe from the Turkish League, and Alba Berlin from the German League.

In addition to defeating the Washington Bullets in 1978, Maccabi Tel Aviv also beat the New Jersey Nets and Phoenix Suns in 1984, in Israel, and beat the Toronto Raptors, 103–105, in Toronto in 2005. This was the first loss of an NBA team in North American soil.

The first Barcelona and CSKA wins came during the 2006 NBA Europe Live Tour, where Barcelona beat the Philadelphia 76ers 104–99, and the Moscow team won by 19 over the Los Angeles Clippers (94–75), being the widest victory so far of any international team.

During the 2007 NBA Europe Live Tour, Málaga defeated Memphis Grizzlies 102–99, and Real Madrid overcame Toronto by a narrow 104–103. In 2010, Barcelona and CSKA Moscow again, beat NBA teams, by narrow margins. More recent EuroLeague victories came during the 2012 NBA Europe Live Tour, when Fenerbahçe defeated the Boston Celtics, by a score of 97–91, and Barcelona beat the Dallas Mavericks, by a score of 99–85. In 2013, CSKA beat the Minnesota Timberwolves by a score of 108–106, and in 2014, Alba Berlin beat the San Antonio Spurs by a score of 94–93. In 2016, Real Madrid beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in overtime, by a score of 142–137.

Many of these games were initially played as part of the now-defunct McDonald's Championship, where NBA teams won all of the games. After 2006, they were mostly played during the NBA Europe Live Tour and the EuroLeague American Tour. In addition to the EuroLeague teams that have beaten NBA teams, one senior men's European national team, the Soviet Union, beat the Atlanta Hawks, by a score of 132–123, in an exhibition game in Moscow, in 1988.

So far, only one non-European team has beaten an NBA team (Israeli teams participate in European competitions). The Adelaide 36ers, a team from the NBL, which is the top-tier professional league of Australia and New Zealand, beat the Phoenix Suns, by a score 134–124, in 2022.

NBA vs. international teams

1970s

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1980s

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1990s

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Games played under NBA rules:

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2000s

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2010s

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2020s

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NBA vs. EuroLeague games involving the league champions

Team, league, and country records

NBA teams

See also

• NBA Global Games
• NBA Canada Series
• NBA versus EuroLeague games
• McDonald's Championship
• EuroLeague American Tour
• Naismith Cup
• NBA records

References

External links

• History of Games Played by NBA Teams in Europe
• Previous exhibition games European clubs vs. NBA
• List of games at Spanish League forums