Superstar duo James Harden and Russell Westbrook and other Houston Rockets players have arrived in Japan and held their first practice in Tokyo on Sunday ahead of their two-game preseason series against the Toronto Raptors.
The two teams will compete on Tuesday and Thursday night at Saitama Super Arena. Both contests will tip off at 7 p.m. Those will be the first NBA games held in Japan since the Seattle SuperSonics (now the Oklahoma City Thunder) and Los Angeles Clippers squared off in two regular-season games at the same venue in 2003.
"I'm always in favor of trips like this," Rockets head coach Mike D'Antoni said when asked what he would expect out of the Japanese series for his team. "Because I think it's good for the team to bond. Japan's a beautiful place to be. So it's going to be enriching to the players off the court, on the court, playing in front of a different crowd. So there's a lot of benefits. And then practices are practices. We practice here, practice in Houston. It's all the same. So we'll get good basketball work, we'll get good bonding. It's a win-win."