ABU DHABI: A week of basketball events across the UAE capital ended on Saturday evening when the second of two NBA Abu Dhabi Games 2023 saw the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Dallas Mavericks 104-96 at the Etihad Arena.
It completed a sweep of the preseason games for Minnesota after they defeated Dallas 111-99 on Thursday.
With the Timberwolves starting star man Anthony Edwards against a Mavericks team that included four-time NBA All-Star Luka Doncic, Abu Dhabi was treated to two of the league’s top performers facing off against each other.
Yet it was the Timberwolves’ Karl-Anthony Towns and Naz Reid who led the points for their triumphant side, scoring 14 apiece.
After the game, Towns said: “As you can see, I really enjoyed it. I really dove straight into the culture; I really had a great time.
“I think I speak for both of us and our whole team when we say thank you so much to all the fans and Abu Dhabi for being so gracious to us and the generosity and the hospitality has been second to none.
“So, thank you so much to all the fans who made this so special, thank you to everyone here who’s showing us just how special basketball is to everyone here.
“We’re really excited that we got this opportunity to do it and we can’t wait to do it again and hopefully we’re invited.”
Tim Hardaway Jr., whose father was among the NBA Legends attending the event, said: “It was amazing, just the culture, the people, the interactions with one another it was amazing. We had a blast out here and are definitely looking forward to coming back.”
Wolves coach Chris Finch said earlier in the week that the atmosphere surrounding the two games had made it feel like more than preseason.
“Of course, off the floor, we had an amazing experience. I’d like to thank everybody from the NBA to the city, to Abu Dhabi, to everybody who’s been so gracious and warm and welcoming and treated us to nothing but a first-class experience.
“Our guys have really enjoyed it, I know that, and Abu Dhabi’s certainly a place that we would all love to come back to,” he added.
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd described the UAE as “a beautiful place” and said his team had enjoyed their experience in the capital.
“It’s somewhere we can come back in the summer; we know it’s going to be warm, but the people are beautiful, and the food is delicious and so we really had a great time.
“The hospitality was off the charts and so we’re very thankful to be here and to participate in these two games,” Kidd added.
Mavericks’ power forward, Grant Williams, said: “We were really fortunate to be here. We were blessed to have a chance to play in front of these amazing fans and hopefully we continue to grow the game of basketball here.
“We were welcomed by the people and excited for hopefully being back in the future not just with the NBA but on personal time as well.”
The NBA Abu Dhabi Games 2023, presented by ADQ, marked the second consecutive year the UAE capital had welcomed elite basketball to the region for high-profile preseason games.
