The location and roster may have changed, but it was the same old story on the court, as Team Africa was bested 108-97 by Team World in the NBA Africa Game in Johannesburg on Saturday.
In the last NBA Africa game, which took place two years ago, Team World defeated Team Africa 101-97, and there was little change this time around, as the "hosts" -- without injured co-captain Luol Deng and Cameroon phenom Joel Embiid -- were outclassed by the traveling party.
Despite being loaded with talented defensive players, Team Africa struggled to contain the likes of Kristaps Porzingis, Courtney Lee, Andre Drummond and DeMarcus Cousins, who were hitting it with an onslaught of 3s and killing it in the paint. Six Team World players scored in double digits, while two notched double-doubles.
Team Africa failed to protect the interior as Team World scored 58 points in the key and outrebounded Team Africa 53-51. Team Africa fell short despite a valiant effort from guards Victor Oladipo and Emmanuel Mudiay which kept it in the game.
Oladipo led the team in points with 28, followed by Mudiay, who added 22. Dennis Schroder and Clint Capela finished with 13 and 10 points respectively.
However, Team World took advantage of Team Africa's inability to take care of the ball -- scoring 29 points off 16 turnovers from its opponents.
While Team World was shaky on offense at times, blowing possession and botching easy layups, it managed to keep Team Africa at bay to seal the win.
Manute Bol MVP honors belonged to Oladipo, who added 9 rebounds, 5 assists, a steal and a block to his 28 points.
Team World's best player was Latvian superstar Porzingis, who notched an impressive stat line of 14 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 block to help his team to victory.