NBA matches

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News article on: Basketball

Inside photo: Gigantes.

Down in history

The second time Bar�a played against an NBA team was in the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona against Pau Gasol’s Memphis Grizzlies. It was on the 10th of October 2003 and the North Americans won 91-80.

The match was a friendly though and had nothing to do with the game that Bar�a would face three years later against the Philadelphia 76ers organised by NBA Live Tour Europe. The scene was the same Palau Sant Jordi, but the team trained by Dusko Ivanovic made history by becoming the first European team to overcome an NBA team (104-99).

NBA matches

The weekend of the 18th and 19th of October, FC Barcelona will take part in a four way tournament with the Lakers, the Raptors and the Clippers. It will be the fourth time the Bar�a basketball team faces an NBA team.

The first time Bar�a played against a team from the North American professional league was in the McDonalds’ Open against the Denver Nuggets in 1987. The object of that tournament was for teams from the NBA and the FIBA to play together. FC Barcelona, along with Real Madrid, is the European team most invited by the NBA. To be exact three times, but sometimes the rival was another European team.

The second game with an NBA flavour was more recent. It was in 2003, when the Bar�a squad faced the Memphis Grizzlies. The third time Bar�a shared the court with a North American team was two years ago, in 2006, against the Philadelphia 76ers. This game also made history, as FC Barcelona became the first European team who managed to defeat a team from the NBA (104-99).

Below are more details of all Bar�a’s participations in the McDonalds’ Open:

Rome, 1989

The Italian capital is where the Denver Nuggets, Split Jugoplastika, Philips from Milan and Bar�a met. The Barcelona players made their debut against Alex English’s Nuggets. Bar�a, however, had no chance against the NBA team and ended up losing 137-103. FC Barcelona finished fourth, after losing to Philips from Milan too (136-104). The Denver Nuggets won the tournament.

Barcelona, 1990

The Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona held a new edition of the McDonalds’ Open. This time the NBA team that took part were the mythical New York Knicks. The other teams were POP 84 from Split, Scavaloni de Pesaro and FC Barcelona. This time though, Bar�a didn’t play any NBA teams, as they lost in the semi-finals against POP 84 (102-97). The Knicks beat the Croatian team in the final (117-101).

Par�s, 1997

The Omnisports in Paris was the venue for the eighth edition of the McDonalds’ Open. Bar�a played again but with a slightly different format to the previous occasion. Now there were six participants: Chicago Bulls, Racing from Paris, Benetton from Treviso, Athens Sporting Association from Argentina, Olympiacos and of course Bar�a.

The Barcelona team didn’t play against an NBA team, as PSG Racing Paris eliminated them by 97-84 and later by Benetton from Treviso by 106-103. The tournament was won, as expected, by Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls.