Naismith Cup

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Naismith Cup
Sport
Maccabi Tel Aviv

The Naismith Cup was an annual pre-season National Basketball Association (NBA) exhibition game. From the 1995 season through 2000, it was played between the two Canadian NBA rivals, the Toronto Raptors and the Vancouver Grizzlies, at neutral venues across Canada.[1] The cup was named after James Naismith, the Canadian inventor of basketball, and was originally created to raise money for Canada Basketball, similar to the Pearson Cup competition between Canada's Major League Baseball teams the Toronto Blue Jays and Montreal Expos (which have since relocated to Washington). Following the Grizzlies relocation to Memphis the cup was laid dead,[2] though the Raptors continued the tradition of hosting neutral site pre-season games in Canadian cities under the NBA Canada Series name. The Raptors won the series against Vancouver 4–1.

Prior to the

Air Canada Centre in Toronto. In 2003 the opponent was the Panathinaikos A.O. of Athens, Greece, while in 2004 the Benetton Treviso of Treviso, Italy visited Toronto.[3] The final competition in 2005 saw the Raptors' only international loss, against Maccabi Tel Aviv of Tel Aviv, Israel.[4] The current whereabouts of the Naismith Cup are unknown.[5]

Results

Season[6][7] Date Location Arena Visiting team Score Home team Attendance
Toronto–Vancouver series
1995 October 21 Canada Winnipeg Winnipeg Arena Canada Toronto Raptors 98–77 Canada Vancouver Grizzlies 11,203[8]
1996 October 27 Canada Calgary
Canadian Airlines Saddledome
Canada Toronto Raptors 77–80 Canada Vancouver Grizzlies 15,104[9]
1997 October 20 Canada Halifax
Halifax Metro Centre
Canada Vancouver Grizzlies 98–107 Canada Toronto Raptors 8,190[10]
1998 October 19 Canada Vancouver
General Motors Place
Toronto Raptors @ Vancouver Grizzlies
Cancelled due to 1998–99 NBA lockout[11]
1999 October 18 Canada Edmonton
Skyreach Centre
Canada Toronto Raptors 110–84 Canada Vancouver Grizzlies 12,852[12]
2000 October 12 Canada Ottawa
Corel Centre
Canada Vancouver Grizzlies 92–97 Canada Toronto Raptors 14,783[13]
International series
2003 October 10 Canada Toronto
Air Canada Centre
Greece Panathinaikos 76–100 Canada Toronto Raptors 17,749[14]
2004 October 20 Canada Toronto
Air Canada Centre
Italy Benetton Treviso 83–86 Canada Toronto Raptors 10,668[15]
2005 October 16 Canada Toronto
Air Canada Centre
Israel Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv 105–103 Canada Toronto Raptors 17,281[4]

Other neutral site Raptors games and international opponents

In addition to the Naismith Cup games, the Raptors have played several other neutral site preseason games in Canadian cities. During their first two seasons of play (1995–1997), prior to the completion of construction on their new home the

Marine Midland Arena in nearby Buffalo, New York before 12,748 fans on 18 October 1996.[6][17] A second game, against the New York Knicks, was scheduled for 15 October 1998 at the arena, but was cancelled due to the 1998–99 NBA lockout.[18] The team has subsequently discussed the possibility of playing additional preseason and regular season games in Buffalo.[19] The Buffalo Braves played a total of 16 regular season games at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto from 1971 to 1975.[20] Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, New York hosted a Raptors pre-season 103-81 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2006 before 9,429 fans.[21] More recently, the team has participated in a number of games as part of the NBA Canada Series
.

Season[6][7] Date Location Arena Visiting team Score Home team Attendance Ref
1995 October 14 Halifax, Nova Scotia
Halifax Metro Centre
Philadelphia 76ers 107–120 Toronto Raptors 9,367 [22]
October 16 Saint John, New Brunswick
Harbour Station
Philadelphia 76ers 121–93 Toronto Raptors 6,297 [23]
October 19 Saskatoon
Saskatchewan Place
Atlanta Hawks 106–105 (OT) Toronto Raptors 5,648 [24]
1996 October 11 Halifax, Nova Scotia
Halifax Metro Centre
Atlanta Hawks 100–82 Toronto Raptors 7,589 [25]
October 13 Ottawa
Corel Centre
New York Knicks 73–78 Toronto Raptors 9,662 [26]
1997 October 24 Hamilton, Ontario
Copps Coliseum
Denver Nuggets 114–100 Toronto Raptors 10,962 [27]
2003 October 23 St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
Mile One Stadium
Cleveland Cavaliers @ Toronto Raptors
Cancelled due to wet playing surface
7,500 [28]
2004 October 17 London, Ontario
John Labatt Centre
Toronto Raptors 103–108 Philadelphia 76ers 7,619 [29]
2005 October 24 Winnipeg
MTS Centre
Portland Trail Blazers 105–98 Toronto Raptors 10,900 [30]
2008 October 21 Edmonton
Rexall Place
Denver Nuggets 105–94 Toronto Raptors 17,534 [31]
2009 October 6 London, Ontario
John Labatt Centre
Toronto Raptors 98–107 Philadelphia 76ers 7,213 [32]
2010 October 6 Vancouver Rogers Arena Toronto Raptors 129–78 Phoenix Suns 18,123 [33]
October 22 Montreal Bell Centre New York Knicks 103–108 Toronto Raptors 22,114 [34]
2012 October 19 Montreal Bell Centre New York Knicks 88–107 Toronto Raptors 22,114 [35]
2014 October 5 Vancouver Rogers Arena Sacramento Kings 94–99 Toronto Raptors 18,900 [36]
October 24 Montreal Bell Centre New York Knicks 80–83 Toronto Raptors 20,738 [37]
2015 October 4 Vancouver Rogers Arena Los Angeles Clippers 73–93 Toronto Raptors 19,000 [38]
October 14 Ottawa Canadian Tire Centre Toronto Raptors 87–89 Minnesota Timberwolves 15,522 [38]
October 23 Montreal Bell Centre Washington Wizards 82–92 Toronto Raptors 20,072 [38]
2016 October 1 Vancouver Rogers Arena Golden State Warriors 93–97 Toronto Raptors 19,000 [39]
October 3 Calgary Scotiabank Saddledome Denver Nuggets 108–106 Toronto Raptors 19,600 [39]
2018 September 29 Vancouver Rogers Arena Portland Trail Blazers 104-122 Toronto Raptors 18,654 [40][41]
October 10 Montreal Bell Centre Brooklyn Nets 91-118 Toronto Raptors 20,526 [42][43]
2022 October 2 Edmonton Rogers Place Utah Jazz 82-114 Toronto Raptors 17,100 [44][45]
October 14 Montreal Bell Centre Boston Celtics 134-137 (OT) Toronto Raptors 21,900 [46][45]
2023 October 8 Vancouver Rogers Arena Sacramento Kings 99-112 Toronto Raptors 18,654 [47][48]

Since the end of the Naismith Cup, the Raptors have continued to play international opponents. They hosted

Lottomatica Roma of Italy and Real Madrid of Spain in 2007.[49][50][51] They hosted San Lorenzo de Almagro of Argentina during the 2016 preseason,[39] and Melbourne United of Australia in 2018.[52]

Toronto has also participated in

New Jersey Nets in London, England in 2011, a regular season game in London against the Orlando Magic in 2016, and a preseason games against the Houston Rockets in Saitama, Japan in 2019.[53]

See also

References

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