This game began year three of the Cotton Express led by Kevin Johnson, Jeff Hornacek, Dan Majerle, Tom Chambers, et al. Cedric Ceballos was a rookie, and Eddie Johnson – two years removed from winning the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year Award – would eventually be traded mid-season for Xavier McDaniel.
After being ousted in the Western Conference Finals by the Portland Trailblazers in the 1989-90 playoff, 4-2, the Suns had hopes that they had the core group that could put them over the top and into the NBA Finals.
Expectations were high and the team would open their regular season in Tokyo, the first time two American professional teams would play outside of North America.