Houston Rockets vs. Toronto Raptors game preview

The Houston Rockets as a franchise are dealing with international controversy at the moment, but the Houston Rockets as a basketball team have a game on Tuesday morning in Tokyo, Japan.

I don’t want to get into the political aspects of Daryl Morey’s tweet, but I will point you towards Darren’s post on the subject from earlier.

Getting back to the topic of the actual basketball game, Russell Westbrook should make his Rockets debut tonight for the good guys. The integration of Russ into Houston’s iso-heavy offense and the pace upgrade that he brings will be important to Houston’s success this season. Russ brings a new dimension to the team’s offense and if the pieces fit together, the Rockets are hoping to turn back into the 65+ win juggernaut from two seasons ago.

Their opponents for both games are the Toronto Raptors, coming off the high of their first championship in franchise history. Since then, they have lost Kawhi Leonard and are looking at a much different season, but the Raptors certainly have enough talent left to make noise in the Eastern Conference with Kyle Lowry and Pascal Siakam.

Tip-off is at 5am CT on NBA TV