NEW YORK -- The Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz will open the 1990-91 NBA season with two games in Tokyo Nov. 3-4, marking the first time an American sports league will play regular season games outside North America.
The games will be played in the afternoon at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium and televised live in primetime in the United States.
'We are very pleased to announce this milestone event, involving regular season contests played abroad,' NBA commissioner David Stern said Monday.
The Suns are playing in the Western Conference finals against Portland, after eliminating the Jazz in the opening round of the playoffs.
The NBA has staged exhibitions in foreign countries, including a 1988 Soviet tour by the Atlanta Hawks and the annual McDonald's Open which matches NBA teams against premier international clubs.
