African players contributed to the excitement as the 2017-18 NBA season tipped-off on Tuesday. The Boston Celtics opened their regular season campaign in a 102-99 loss on the road at Cleveland, while Houston Rockets were 122-121 winners in a close game as guests of Champions, Golden State Warriors in Oakland.
Two players of African origin - Abdel Nader an Egyptian-American and Semi Ojeleye, Nigerian-American - were on the roster for that game, but only Ojeleye got off the bench. Ojeleye came off the bench with 2:38 left in the 1st quarter as replacement for Jayson Tatum.
The rookie was on the floor for nine minutes, but scored no points putting up 0-2 FG, no rebounds, and had a personal foul recorded against him, the result of a tangle with LeBron James.
The second game in Oakland, which had a total of four players of African origin on the combined roster of both teams, had better African presence on the floor as Clint Capela and Luc Mbah A Moute contributed heavily in a shock Rockets win over champions, Warriors.
The other two players, Chinanu Onuaku (Houston) and Andre Iguodala were not included in the opening day roster. But between them, Capela and Mbah A Moute did enough, to ensure the continent was not left behind on a day different things pointed to an opening night heralding an eventful season in prospect.
Capela was named in the starting five, was on the floor for 18 minutes, and contributed 12 points on 6-10 shooting, with none of the points coming from the free throw line.
He also added four rebounds; one blocked shot and one assist, and turned the ball over only twice. Despite playing defence, Capela did not have any fouls called on him. Mbah A Moute came off the bench to contribute 14 points and four rebounds off 6-9 shooting, sinking 2-3 treys.
The 14 points is the most the Cameroonian has scored since he poured in 15 points for Clippers in Game 3 of the play-off series against Utah Jazz last season, and a huge total for Mbah A Moute, who is averaging 6.3 points per game in a nine-year NBA career.