12 Apr 2014

Heat top lineup of international preseason games

7:43 am on 12 April 2014

The two-time defending champion Miami Heat will be among five NBA basketball teams playing pre-season games in four countries this October as part of the league's effort to connect with fans globally.

The Heat, the Brooklyn Nets, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Sacramento Kings and the San Antonio Spurs will play a series of games in five cities in Brazil, China, Germany, and Turkey.

Regular-season international games will be announced at a later date.

Miami and Cleveland will play the NBA's second game in South America when the teams meet on October 11th in Rio de Janeiro.

The series will also include two games in China between the Brooklyn Nets and Sacramento Kings on October 12th in Shanghai and on October 15th in Beijing.

The San Antonio Spurs travel to Europe for games against eight-time German champions Alba Berlin on October 8th in Germany before travelling to Istanbul for a meeting with five-time Turkish champions Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul on October 11th.