With Tuesday nightÂ's match between Utah Jazz and Chicago Bulls deemed a successful experiment, the NBA could stage more games in London as basketball strives to widen its appeal ahead of the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

The match at LondonÂ's O2 Arena was the third pre-season game to be held at the venue and there are hopes that London could host regular-season games from as early as next season despite the clock ticking in terms of getting things arranged.

We're running out of runway a little bit but we still hope to do it," said NBA commissioner David Stern. "Who knows? We have not set the schedule yet for 2010 so we'll see."

Basketball is now the second most popular international team sport behind football (soccer) but has not tended to flourish in Britain compared to mainland Europe – particularly Eastern Europe, where there is a large following.

"The run-up to 2012 is very exciting for the growth of basketball in Great Britain," Stern said.