Rockets, Raptors to play a pair of preseason games in Japan

The Toronto Raptors and the Houston Rockets are headed overseas next fall. The NBA announced Monday that the two teams will play a pair of preseason games Oct. 8 and Oct. 10 at Saitama, Japan, just outside Tokyo. The league will head back to Japan for the first time since playing 12 regular-season games there between 1990 and 2003.

A Phoenix Suns-Utah Jazz matchup in Tokyo on Nov. 2, 1990, was the first regular-season game outside of North America by a major U.S. sports league, according to the NBA. The Rockets visited Japan when they opened the 1992-93 season with two losses to the Seattle SuperSonics in Yokohama, 111-94 and 89-85. The Raptors have never previously played in Japan.