The Houston Rockets will face the Los Angeles Clippers in an Oct. 3 preseason game in Honolulu, Hawaii, the teams announced Thursday. The game finalizes Houston’s 2019-20 preseason slate at six games in total, beginning Sept. 30 and ending on Oct. 18.
Of those six games, two will come at Toyota Center in Houston; one on the road at Miami; and three at neutral sites in Hawaii and Japan.
With both teams coming off eventful offseasons, the Clippers and Rockets are currently seen as the two best teams in the Western Conference, according to projected sportsbook win totals.
Houston traded for 2017 MVP Russell Westbrook this offseason to pair him in the backcourt with 2018 MVP James Harden. Meanwhile, the Clippers acquired a pair of star forwards in 2019 NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, who finished third in the 2019 regular-season MVP voting.
The Clippers roster also features several prominent former Rockets, including Pat Beverley, Lou Williams, and Montrezl Harrell. All three were acquired in the June 2017 trade for Chris Paul, who has subsequently flipped by Houston in July 2019 for Westbrook.
The Oct. 3 preseason game will actually tip off at 12 a.m. on Oct. 4 back in Houston, since Hawaii Standard Time is five hours behind Central Standard Time.
The preseason Hawaii trip makes logistical sense for the Rockets, who were already headed from Houston to Tokyo, Japan, in October to participate in the NBA Japan Games 2019. In that series, the Rockets will face the defending NBA champion Toronto Raptors in a pair of exhibition games on Tuesday, Oct. 8 and Thursday, Oct. 10.
Honolulu is approximately halfway from Houston to Toyko, so the stop should allow the Rockets to begin acclimating to the massive gap in time zones. According to The Athletic‘s Kelly Iko, the Rockets plan to hold part of their training camp in Honolulu as well.
Houston begins its six-game preseason slate with a home game at Toyota Center on Monday, Sept. 30 versus the Shanghai Sharks. They will then fly to Honolulu shortly after that opener to begin preparing for the Clippers game on Thursday, Oct. 3.
The Rockets and Clippers will also play four times in the 2019-20 regular season, beginning Nov. 13 in Houston.
