Atlanta Hawks vs Orlando Magic

Tonight I went to my first US basketball game! And I made my entrance to the world of basketball with a bang, hitting up an NBA playoff game at Atlanta's Philips Arena between the Atlanta Hawks and Orlando Magic.

The Philips Arena is enormous, and serves both the basketball team and the ice hockey team, the Trashers.

Watching a basketball game live is amazing. There's so much going on. There are players being treated by fisiotherapists.

There are cheerleaders doin' the shimmy and swooshing their hair around.



There are oddly dressed sidekicks, like a red devil with a violin, in the stands that get a gig on the big screen.


There are actual basketball players doing impressive slam dunks with a trampoline.

In fact, the trampoline dunks were pretty impressive. Let's take a closer look at that, shall we?



There are players being interviewed by Minnie Mouse-voiced little reporters.

Oh, and from time to time, there's also a little basketball.



The game was incredibly exciting, with Magic trailing and sometimes surpassing the Hawks for all four quarters of the game. But in the last 30 seconds, the Hawks scored a three-pointer, and sealed the victory!

All in all, it's a thrilling experience to watch a live basketball game, to hear the crowd roar, boo when the visiting team has possession of the ball, and jump up cheering the home team on when they score. You ain't been in America without experiencing one of these games!