KINGS PLAY IN 1ST NBA GAME IN INDIA

The team with the NBA’s first Indian owner had every opportunity to win the first NBA game ever played on Indian soil, but T.J. Warren had other ideas.

Warren made a 3-pointer to force overtime and finished with 30 points, leading the Indiana Pacers to a 132-131 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Friday before a capacity crowd of 4,500 in the first of two preseason games at the NSCI Dome in Mumbai, India.

The game marked the first time a North American professional sports league has staged an event in India. It represented the NBA’s strongest push yet to penetrate a market with 1.3 billion people and served as a special homecoming for Kings owner Vivek Ranadive, who left his homeland as a teen to pursue his dreams in the United States.

“This is a historic day, but for me it’s a dream come true,” Ranadive told reporters in Mumbai. “I left Bombay when I was 17 years old and I literally had $50 in my pocket, so to come back here with my NBA team ... is beyond my wildest, wildest imagination.”

NBA commissioner Adam Silver also addressed the media during a news conference before the game.

“Of course this is a landmark for the NBA in that it’s our firstever game on Indian soil,” Silver said. “It’s been a long time in the works.”

Kings coach Luke Walton started De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield, Harrison Barnes, Marvin Bagley III and Dewayne Dedmon. The Kings got off to a hot start, making 7 of their first 8 shots, including their first three 3-point attempts.

The Kings led by as many as 21 in the first half and carried a 7259 lead into the break after Yogi Ferrell made a three-quarterscourt shot at the buzzer. Sacramento shot 58.5 percent from the field and made 10 of 17 (.588) from beyond the arc in the opening half.

The Pacers cut the deficit to four early in the third quarter and got within one on a three-point play by T.J. Warren. The Kings went up by nine on a basket by Hield midway through the fourth quarter, but Indiana staged another late run to tie the game on a corner 3-pointer by T.J. Warren with 7.8 seconds remaining.

The Kings still had a chance to win in regulation, but Hield missed a 3-pointer as time expired. The Pacers led by five on a couple of occasions in overtime. Hield made a 3-pointer to tie the game with 1:19 to go, but big baskets by Warren and Domantas Sabonis helped the Pacers prevail.

Hield scored 28 points and Barnes added 21 to lead the Kings. Fox finished with 16 points and eight assists.