Timberwolves top Mavericks in NBA preseason opener in Abu Dhabi

Karl-Anthony Towns scored 20 points in 17 minutes, Naz Reid added 16 and the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Dallas Mavericks 111-99 in the first NBA preseason game of the year on Thursday.

Luka Garza and Shake Milton each scored 12 points for the Timberwolves, who led by as many as 29 and never trailed.

Luka Doncic scored 25 points in 17 first-half minutes for Dallas, and Jaden Hardy added 13.

Most of the top players from each team didn’t play in the second half, and Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards didn’t play at all. He was held out with an ankle issue.

It was the first of two games that the teams will play in Abu Dhabi, with the rematch on Saturday before the teams return to the US.

This trip marks the third time in a year that NBA players have played in Abu Dhabi. The league sent Atlanta and Milwaukee to the UAE for a pair of preseason games last season, and a number of NBA players took part in a series of games in the UAE before this summer’s World Cup - with the US, Greece and eventual World Cup champion Germany all participating in those exhibitions.

The second game is Saturday. The Mavericks then travel to Spain for a preseason game against Real Madrid next Tuesday. The 2023-24 NBA season gets under way on Oct.24.

The NBA Abu Dhabi Games 2023 follow last year’s preseason games between the Atlanta Hawks and the Milwaukee Bucks, which marked the league’s first games in the Arabian Gulf. In January, the NBA and DCT Abu Dhabi launched an expanded second season of the Jr. NBA Abu Dhabi League, featuring boys’ and girls’ leagues each composed of 450 players ages 11-14 from schools across the UAE capital.

Piero visits AD to kick start cross-sports collaboration: Alessandro Del Piero, footballing legend and ambassador of Lega Serie A, Italy’s premier professional football league, is in Abu Dhabi this week, as part of a visit to help connect the Italian League with the next generation of fans and foster new and innovative collaborations in the sporting world and beyond.

This includes a new cross-sport collaboration with the NBA, the US basketball League, with Del Piero attending the NBA Abu Dhabi Games courtside alongside US basketball legend, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – with the two legends from two huge global sports coming together for the first time.

The dynamic collaboration between Serie A and the NBA will be help both sporting associations reach and engage with new audiences, both in the Middle east and North Africa (Mena) region and worldwide. The collaboration promises to be mutually beneficial, as it leverages the global appeal of both football and basketball to create a unique dynamic that will engage sport enthusiasts and expand their presence across diverse audiences – with content being shared through Serie A’s and the NBA’s social channels regionally and globally.

During his visit to Abu Dhabi, Del Piero also made his inaugural visit to the Serie A Mena offices on Yas Island, where he met with NBA delegates and other officials including the Italian Ambassador to the UAE, Lorenzo Fanara, as well as representatives from Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI) and the Italian Trade Agency (ICE). This follow’s last week’s launch of ‘Serie A Made in Italy’ campaign, a global communications initiative to promote and showcase Italy’s cultural produce to over 500 million people worldwide, including audiences in the Mena region, through the direct involvement of Lega Serie A’s clubs and iconic players from Italian football.

Commenting on his visit to Abu Dhabi and the Serie A Mena offices, Alessandro Del Piero, said: “it’s always a pleasure to visit the Middle East, but this visit was very special. Not only was I able to play a role in initiating our collaboration with the NBA and connecting with legends from another great team sport, but this was also my first visit to Serie A’s Mena offices since their opening. I was able to see firsthand the investment being made in the Middle East and its fans and understand more about our local grassroots initiatives that will help identify and nurture future footballing talent in and from the region.”