List of games played between NBA and international teams

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The following is a history of the list of games played between NBA and international teams. Teams from the National Basketball Association (NBA) have played numerous basketball games against various international teams from around the world. NBA teams, from both the United States and Canada, have played many games against international clubs from various different basketball leagues, as well as against some league all-star teams and senior national teams.

Prior to 2003, these games were played under a mixture of both NBA and FIBA rules, with most of the rules being NBA rules. Since 2003, the games played between NBA and international teams have been played under NBA rules, and with NBA referees.

History[edit]

One of the first basketball games between an NBA and a FIBA (international) team was held in 1978, in Tel Aviv, Israel. Maccabi Tel Aviv of the EuroLeague and Israeli League surprisingly beat the defending NBA champions, the Washington Bullets, by a score of 98–97.[1]

Since then, 6 other EuroLeague teams have defeated an NBA franchise: Barcelona, Málaga and Real Madrid from the Spanish League, CSKA Moscow of the Russian top-tier level VTB United League, Fenerbahçe from the Turkish League, and Alba Berlin from the German League.

In addition to defeating the Washington Bullets in 1978, Maccabi Tel Aviv also beat the New Jersey Nets and Phoenix Suns in 1984, in Israel, and beat the Toronto Raptors, 103–105, in Toronto in 2005. This was the first loss of an NBA team in North American soil.

The first Barcelona and CSKA wins came during the 2006 NBA Europe Live Tour, where Barcelona beat the Philadelphia 76ers 104–99, and the Moscow team won by 19 over the Los Angeles Clippers (94–75), being the widest victory so far of any international team.

During the 2007 NBA Europe Live Tour, Málaga defeated Memphis Grizzlies 102–99, and Real Madrid overcame Toronto by a narrow 104–103. In 2010, Barcelona and CSKA Moscow again, beat NBA teams, by narrow margins. More recent EuroLeague victories came during the 2012 NBA Europe Live Tour, when Fenerbahçe defeated the Boston Celtics, by a score of 97–91, and Barcelona beat the Dallas Mavericks, by a score of 99–85. In 2013, CSKA beat the Minnesota Timberwolves by a score of 108–106, and in 2014, Alba Berlin beat the San Antonio Spurs by a score of 94–93. In 2016, Real Madrid beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in overtime, by a score of 142–137.

Many of these games were initially played as part of the now-defunct McDonald's Championship, where NBA teams won all of the games. After 2006, they were mostly played during the NBA Europe Live Tour and the EuroLeague American Tour. In addition to the EuroLeague teams that have beaten NBA teams, one senior men's European national team, the Soviet Union, beat the Atlanta Hawks, by a score of 132–123, in an exhibition game in Moscow, in 1988.

So far, only one non-European team has beaten an NBA team (Israeli teams participate in European competitions). The Adelaide 36ers, a team from the NBL, which is the top-tier professional league of Australia and New Zealand, beat the Phoenix Suns, by a score 134–124, in 2022.

NBA vs. international teams[edit]

1970s[edit]



29 August 1979
Washington Bullets United States 113–80 China China

1980s[edit]

24 August 1984
Seattle SuperSonics United States 94–87 West Germany SSV Hagen
West Germany Ischelandhalle, Hagen
25 August 1984
Seattle SuperSonics United States 119–95 West Germany ASC 1846 Göttingen
West Germany Georg-Sehring-Halle, Langen
31 August 1984
Seattle SuperSonics United States 111–110 Switzerland Vevey
Switzerland Galeries du Rivage, Vevey
5 September 1984
Seattle SuperSonics United States 106–76 West Germany ASC 1846 Göttingen
West Germany Georg-Sehring-Halle, Langen


23 October 1987
Milwaukee Bucks United States 123–111 Italy Tracer Milano
25 October 1987
Milwaukee Bucks United States 127–100 Soviet Union Soviet Union


27 July 1988
Atlanta Hawks United States 110–105 (OT) Soviet Union Soviet Union


22 October 1989
Denver Nuggets United States 135–129 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Jugoplastika

1990s[edit]

11 October 1990
New York Knicks United States 119–115 (OT) Italy Scavolini Pesaro
13 October 1990
New York Knicks United States 117–101 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia POP 84




22 October 1993
Phoenix Suns United States 145–115 Spain Real Madrid Teka








16 October 1999
San Antonio Spurs United States 103–68 Brazil Vasco da Gama

Games played under NBA rules:


2000s[edit]









18 October 2007
Orlando Magic United States 116–92 China China




2010s[edit]







15 October 2014
Orlando Magic United States 106–88 Brazil Flamengo










2020s[edit]



20 October 2023
Orlando Magic United States 109–76 Brazil Flamengo

NBA vs. EuroLeague games involving the league champions[edit]

Team, league, and country records[edit]

NBA teams[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Expedientes X (I); ACB.com 31 July 2002 (in Spanish)

External links[edit]