The T-Wolves had an announced crowd of 17,322 at the
Target Center for their free exhibition against the Bucks
last night. In St. Paul, Tom Powers describes the fans as
"very receptive" and "forgiving" (PIONEER PRESS, 1/29).
...In Indianapolis, Robin Miller writes on the crowd of
11,468 at last night's free Pacers scrimmage, and says that
80% of those in attendance "represented the innocence of
youth" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR-NEWS, 1/29). Fans at Market
Square Arena also received a voucher for free concessions
and a 50% discount on Pacers merchandise (STAR-NEWS, 1/29).
...Around 6,200 attended the Warriors practice and scrimmage
Tuesday night and were greeted by the players at the
entrances to Oakland Coliseum (S.F. EXAMINER, 1/27)....In
San Antonio, Ihosvani Rodriguez writes that Spurs fans
"apparently are the forgiving type," as 5,100 people showed
up at their practice game and autograph session. Rodriguez:
"If there was any haze of animosity on the part of the fans,
it didn't fog the dome" (S.A. EXPRESS-NEWS, 1/29)....In
Boston, Michael Holley notes the "packed" open practice for
the Celtics at the Worcester Centrum last night and the
expected full house for tonight's game against the Raptors.
While the "free tickets certainly aren't hurting the
attendance figures," the "interest level appears to be
deeper than freebies and handouts" (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/29).
NEW UNIS: The Magic will unveil their new uniforms
today at RDV Sportsplex, as part of their 10th anniversary
celebration. The uniforms, created by N.Y. fashion designer
Jhane Barnes, will be white for home games and blue for road
games (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 1/29).
NOTES: The Cavs "gave away too many" general admission
tickets to Saturday's exhibition game against the Pistons in
Gund Arena. The team began exchanging those tickets for
regular-season tickets for the February 8 game against the
Pacers to the first 3,000 fans who showed up at Gund Arena
starting yesterday (PLAIN DEALER, 1/28)....Suns President &
D'Backs Managing General Partner Jerry Colangelo is leasing
a Boeing 737-400 that the Suns and D'Backs will share as a
team charter (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 1/29).
