Raptors announce 2019-20 preseason schedule

The Toronto Raptors will kick off their 2019 preseason schedule on Tuesday, October 8 in Tokyo, Japan, against the Houston Rockets, the team announced on Friday.

The Raptors will play four preseason games total in October 2019 before the 2019-20 NBA regular season kicks off:

• Oct. 8: vs. Houston, in Tokyo, Japan
• Oct 10: vs. Houston, in Tokyo, Japan
• Oct 13: vs. Chicago, in Toronto
• Oct. 18: vs. Brooklyn, in Uniondale, NY

Those Tokyo games will tip off at 6:00 a.m. Eastern time, so set your alarm clocks if you want to see James Harden and Russell Westbrook reunited!

I have to say, that seems like a rather short preseason, doesn’t it? I may be an old man but it doesn’t seem that long ago that the exhibition season lasted eight games!

Certainly travel plays a part in this; traveling to and from Japan is going to be taxing for the players, so they’ll need some extra recovery time, to be sure. The Nets, who travel to Brazil and China as part of their preseason schedule, will also only play four while other teams, such as the Bulls, have five games on their schedule.

Either way, it means the basketball we see in the first week of the regular season may not be optimal, as guys will still be getting in to shape and teams will still be figuring themselves out.

The Raptors open training camp on September 29 in Laval, Quebec, where they’ll stay for a few days before heading back to Toronto and then off to Japan.

The regular season schedule has not been announced yet, but should be coming by the end of next week.