NBA China Games draw fans from near and far, Irving just one of the star attractions

Basketball fans draped in the red of Houston and blue of Dallas flooded into The Venetian Macau on Friday ahead of the first of this year’s NBA China Games.

The exhibition between the Rockets and Mavericks forms the centrepiece of a five-day basketball festival that tipped off on Wednesday and will conclude with a second match between the two on Sunday.

Crowds gathered hours in advance of the opening tip-off, and lengthy queues snaked past the prominent NBA House entrance archway along the...