New Orleans: Canada’s Jamal Murray made three straight from beyond the arc in the final three minutes to power the World team to a 150-141 win over the US squad in the Rising Stars Challenge game on Friday.
Murray, who plays for the NBA’s Denver Nuggets, scored 27 of his team-high 36 points in the second half at the Smoothie King Center arena.
The international team was also led by New Orleans Pelicans guard Buddy Hield, a native of the Bahamas, who had 28 points, and New York Knicks centre Kristaps Porzingis, a native of Latvia, who added 24.
The US team was led by Charlotte Hornets centre Frank Kaminsky with 33 points and Minnesota Timberwolves centre Karl-Anthony Towns with 24.
This was the third year the teams of first- and second-year players were divided up on the basis of US versus international. The US and World split the first two games.
There were a record 113 international players on opening-night rosters for the 2016-17 NBA regular season.
The NBA has, meanwhile, warned that Texas could be overlooked for future events because of a proposed ‘bathroom bill’ targeting transgender people.
The Texas legislation is similar to a North Carolina law that prompted the league to move the All-Star Game out of that state. Texas’ proposed law would require people to use bathrooms that correspond to the sex on their birth certificate.
NBA spokesperson Mike Bass says an environment where people are treated “fairly and equally” weighs heavily when the league chooses host locations. The NFL has made similar statements.
Texas has three NBA teams and has hosted three All-Star Games since 2006. Charlotte was originally supposed to host Sunday’s All-Star Game. But the NBA moved the game to New Orleans after North Carolina adopted its ‘bathroom bill’ last year.
