When James Harden’s night was over, defence got easier for the Toronto Raptors.
Pascal Siakam scored 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and the Raptors — in their first game since winning the NBA Finals — rallied from a 17-point deficit to beat the Houston Rockets 134-129 in Tokyo on Tuesday to open the NBA Japan Games.
The exhibition game at the Saitama Super Arena, a site for basketball at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, was the NBA’s first in Japan since 2003. The Rockets and Raptors return there to conclude the two-game series on Thursday.
Raptors coach Nick Nurse said he liked the arena and felt energy from the Japanese fans.