Saitama, Oct 29: Los Angeles Clippers and Seattle Supersonics are preparing to open their NBA season in Japan for the first time. The Seattle Supersonics will be without "Dream Team" guard Ray Allen for their two games against National Basketball Association (NBA) rivals the Los Angeles Clippers in Japan this week. The team is making adjustments to minimise the impact. Seattle and Los Angeles, both in the Western Conference, meet at Saitama Super Arena on Thursday (October 30) and Saturday (November 1) as the NBA brings regular-season fixtures to Japan for the sixth time. Ron Murray is set to replace Allen, who averaged 24.5 points a game after joining the Sonics from Milwaukee last season. With Allen out, Seattle will ask Rashard Lewis to repay some of the 53.8 million U.S. dollars that the club has guaranteed the forward over the next six years.


Meanwhile, new Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy has warned not to expect too much too soon from his young team, despite the re-signing of Elton Brand and Corey Maggette.


Clippers owner Donald Sterling gave forward Brand a six-year, 82 million U.S. dollar contract and re-signed the versatile Maggette for 42 million U.S. dollars after the team finished bottom of the Pacific Division again last season.


Starting the season in Japan has become an irregular tradition that is intended to promote NBA basketball in the country.


In 1990, the NBA became the first American professional sports league to stage regular season games outside North America when the Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz opened the 1990-91 season with two games in the Tokyo Metropolitan Gym.


Two years later, the Rockets and SuperSonics opened the 1992-93 season with two games in Yokohama, as did the Clippers and the Trail Blazers in 1994.


In 1996, the event moved to the larger Tokyo Dome, where two games between the New Jersey Nets and Orlando Magic drew more than 75,000 fans.


In 1999, the NBA's last trip to Japan, the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Sacramento Kings played two regular season contests, each winning a game before impressive crowds of more than 32,000 at the Tokyo Dome.


This year the Supersonics and Clippers will be playing in the 37,000 seater Saitama stadium, not far from Tokyo. The stadium opened in 2000 and hosted world cup soccer matches in 2002.


Bureau Report