MACAU (AP) -Carlos Arroyo scored 25 points to help the Orlando Magic rout the China all-stars 116-92 in an exhibition game Thursday at the Chinese casino city of Macau, known as Asia’s Las Vegas.
The game might have been closer if China’s roster included the country’s two biggest stars: Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets and the newest Chinese NBA player: Yi Jianlian, a 7-foot power forward with the Milwaukee Bucks. Both players were busy with their own preseason schedules and couldn’t fly out to the game at the Venetian Macau Resort Hotel.
The China all-stars, which included some foreign players from the country’s professional league, got off to a strong start in the first period, winning the tip-off and hitting three three-pointers in the first eight minutes.
But the Chinese team went cold after building a 9-6 lead, and the Magic took control of the rest of the game. Pat Garrity – who finished with eight points – sparked the run with two three-pointers to give Orlando a 24-18 first-quarter lead.
By halftime, the Magic had a 64-39 edge and they increased it to 92-69 in the third period.
Forward Hedo Turkoglu scored 17 for Orlando. Forward James Augustine added 14, while Dwight Howard had 12.
Olumide Oyedeji led China with 25 points. The Nigerian center was a second-round draft pick by the Seattle SuperSonics in 2000. Wang Zhizhi added 16 points.
The exhibition game was part of the NBA’s push to build a bigger audience in China. Orlando played the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday in Shanghai. They’ll match up again on Saturday in Macau, a former Portuguese enclave that returned to Chinese rule in 1999. The tiny city on China’s southern coast is the only place in the country where casino gambling is legal.
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