Indiana Pacers to Play Denver Nuggets at NBA London 2017 - Hoopsfix.com

Indiana Pacers to Play Denver Nuggets at NBA London 2017

Indiana Pacers and Denver Nuggets are heading to London next season to contest the annual NBA regular season game at The O2 Arena, on January 12th, 2017, it has been announced.

Both teams will make their first trips to the capital with the Nuggets becoming the first Western Conference team to play a regular season game in London.

Team USA superstar Paul George will be the undoubted main attraction on display for the Pacers, who have acquired Jeff Teague, Al Jefferson and Thad Young in the off-season to form a strong-looking roster.

“I’m really excited and thankful the NBA is allowing us to reach out to our fans in London,” said George.

“This is great exposure for our team and our franchise. I think it will be a great experience for us and the fans in attendance.”

As for the Nuggets, they feature an array of young talent as well as several players who hail from Europe including influential Italian Danilo Gallinari.

“It will be a true honour and a great experience to represent both the Nuggets and the NBA in London as part of the NBA Global Games in 2017,” said Gallinari.

“Our entire team and organisation are looking forward to this opportunity to showcase our league to fans overseas.”

Indiana reached the playoffs in the East after going 45-37 in the regular season before falling to a 4-3 series defeat against Toronto Raptors in the first round.

Denver missed out on the playoffs in the West and finished with a 33-49 record in 11th place.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver added: “We are thrilled to return for our seventh regular-season game in London.

“With almost 25 percent of players in the NBA born outside of the United States, we are seeing firsthand the global growth of our game, which has never been more popular in the U.K.”

NBA London history:

Regular season games

2011 – New Jersey Nets beat Toronto Raptors 116-103
2011 – New Jersey Nets beat Toronto Raptors 137-136 (3OT)
2013 – New York Knicks beat Detroit Pistons 102-87
2014 – Brooklyn Nets beat Atlanta Hawks 127-110
2015 – Milwaukee Bucks beat New York Knicks 95-79
2016 – Toronto Raptors beat Orlando Magic 106-103 (OT)

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