Those high-flying slam dunks and long-distance 3-pointers are going to mean a lot more to the London crowd next year when the NBA plays its first regular-season games in Europe.

NBA commissioner David Stern announced Monday that the Toronto Raptors and New Jersey Nets will face each other March 4 and 5 at the O2 Arena, the same venue that has hosted preseason games over the past several years.

"It's going to make basketball shine as a sport of passion, intensity, teamwork," Stern said on a conference call.

The NBA has been looking to expand overseas for years, and Stern has said in the past he would like to play a meaningful game in London before the city hosts the Olympics in 2012.

"This, to us, is really within the context of giving as much support as we can to the sport of basketball for the 2012 Olympics," Stern said.

In the early 1990s, the NBA played some regular-season games in Japan -- the only ones held outside North America.

The NBA also played in Mexico City.

Although the NBA is finally making the jump to play meaningful games in Europe, Stern was hesitant to say if the league would make it an annual occurrence.

Sports and pizza boss Michael Ilitch said that he and his wife, Marian, are making a formal bid to buy the Detroit Pistons and the related Palace Sports & Entertainment empire.

And although Ilitch did not say so specifically, the family has indicated that a key part of the move is a commitment to build a new arena in downtown Detroit for the Ilitch-owned Red Wings and the Pistons should they get the team. The Ilitch family also owns the Detroit Tigers.

Center Joakim Noah and Chicago are discussing a possible contract extension and hope to have an agreement by the start of the season. Noah, coming off a breakout season in which he averaged 10.7 points and 11.0 rebounds per game, is due $3.1 million next season in the fourth year of his rookie contract.

New Jersey signed free agent forward Sean May, a four-year NBA veteran with career averages of 6.9 points and 4.0 rebounds. No contract terms were announced.

Minnesota signed free-agent forward Anthony Tolliver, who averaged 12.3 points and 7.3 rebounds in 44 games for the Warriors last season.

The NBA and its players' association will return to the bargaining table this week to resume talks toward a new labor agreement. This will be the first bargaining session since the league's All-Star weekend in February. Players rejected the owners' proposal for a deal to replace the one that expires June 30, 2011. The union recently submitted its own proposal.

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