After an entertaining exhibition game played at a frenetic pace on Tuesday night at Saitama Super Arena, the Toronto Raptors and Houston Rockets went back to work on Wednesday afternoon determined to make adjustments.
Both teams took some positives out of the first of two NBA Japan Games, which provided a test in terms of preparation for the 2019-20 season.
The Raptors rallied for a 134-129 victory, overcoming a 104-87 deficit with 3:40 to go in the third quarter before a packed house of 20,413 spectators. Thirty-six seconds later, James Harden's work shift was over. It was an impressive showing: 34 points and seven assists in 27-plus minutes. He was replaced by Russell Westbrook, who made his preseason debut on Tuesday after skipping the Rockets' games last week, against the Shanghai Sharks on Sept. 30 in Houston and versus the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday in Honolulu.