LAS VEGAS -- With the first quarter of the Dallas-Phoenix matchup dwindling down to a close, Mavericks guard Josh Adams dribbled up the floor, received a screen from Ding Yanyuhang and drove left. The Suns' Mike James and Dragan Bender, charged with protecting the pick-and-pop attack, trapped Adams, leaving Ding wide open from beyond the arc. Adams swung the ball over, and the 2017 Chinese Basketball Association MVP swished a straight-on 3 to the tune of hundreds of elated Asian-American fans busting out in applause.
All the while, Satnam Singh -- a 7-foot-2 center and the first Indian-born player drafted into the NBA -- stared on from the end of the Mavericks bench.