MANILA - The Houston Rockets slammed the Indiana Pacers 116-96 in the first NBA pre-season game, which was held in Manila on Thursday, drawing thousands of Filipino fans.
It was the first NBA pre-season match to be held in the Philippines.
Afterwards, Pacers fan Danny Carmelina said he had his wish granted when he heard the news of their arrival a few months back.
"Since childhood, my wish was to see them 'live' and when that opportunity came to the Philippines, I really saved up to watch them," he said.
High school student Laika Samson was still in awe when she saw the NBA teams along with her family.
"It's really surreal to be watching them here,," she said.
Basketball is the most popular sport in the Philippines, with many Filipinos playing the game on makeshift courts.
Rockets coach Kevin McHale told a post-match news conference he was pleased with the trip.
"It was a nice trip to Manila and now we're off to Taiwan. I thought it was a fun game, I thought it was a good atmosphere. The nice thing about coming to different places is that the fans are really excited and it had, had a nice vibe and had a nice amount of energy in the arena," said McHale.
The teams will next play in Taiwan on October 13.
The match in the Philippines was part of the NBA's Global Games program, which features eight pre-season games in eight cities across six countries this October.
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
