Timberwolves’ Gorgui Dieng plays sparingly in Team Africa loss

As the NBA’s Basketball Without Border event came to a close, the week was capped with another match-up between Team Africa and Team World, and the Timberwolves’ Gorgui Dieng suited up for Africa.

The NBA continues to do a great job on an international scale, and this week’s Basketball Without Borders event in Africa was no exception.

A week that included building homes for Habitat For Humanity, camps for kids, and plenty of other awesome moments concluded with another Team Africa-Team World match-up. This was the second time that the game was played on African soil, and for the second time, Team World came away with the victory.

There were no Timberwolves players representing Team World, but Gorgui Dieng was once again on the roster for Team Africa. But unlike his starring role with the Senegalese team in the FIBA World Cup in the past, Dieng was a mere end-of-the-rotation contributor for Africa.

The Wolves big man played just 12 minutes and did not score, missing both of his shot attempts. He did grab four rebounds and block two shots as well as tallying a steal.

Team Africa’s starting lineup included the likes of Emmanuel Mudiay, Victor Oladipo, Thabo Sefolosha, Serge Ibaka, and Clint Capela. Oladipo was the star and won the game’s Most Valuable Player honors despite the loss, pouring in 28 points, although it took him 25 shots to do it. He also pitched in nine rebounds and five assists.

The rotation was rounded out by Dennis Schroder, Bismack Biyombo, former Timberwolf Luc Mbah a Moute, Salah Mejri, and Dieng.

Team World was led by Jaylen Brown‘s 15 points off the bench and Kristaps Porzingis‘ 14 points on 5-of-9  shooting. Kyle Lowry had 13 points, seven rebounds, and five assists, and DeMarcus Cousins added an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double in just 16 minutes. The World was able to have a much more balanced rotation with their deep bench; all 10 players that saw the court played at least 11 minutes and seven of the 10 played 19 or more minutes.

Team Africa was without Joel Embiid and Luol Deng, who both sat out due to injury. The result certainly could have been different — or, at least, more interesting — had the duo played, but the players are understandably looking six weeks or so into the future as they prepare to join their respective NBA clubs for the fall.

Next: Dear Wolves Fans: This Is The Year

Kudos to the NBA for putting on what appears to have been a great event.