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Houston Rockets guard Jeremy Lin arrived in Taiwan on Friday to play in his parents' homeland.
The Rockets will face the Indiana Pacers in an NBA preseason game Sunday in Taipei — a special occasion for the league's first American-born player of Taiwanese descent.
"I kind of see this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Lin told a packed news conference. "I don't know if I'll ever be able to come back and play a NBA preseason game here where my parents were born and raised.
"Definitely, I am looking forward to it. It's a celebration in some sense."
The Rockets and Pacers traveled to Taipei from Manila, where Houston beat Indiana 116-96 on Thursday in the first NBA preseason game in the Philippines.
Taiwan is still in the throes of "Linsanity," with Lin T-shirts and related paraphernalia popular on this self-governing island of 23 million people, 100-miles off the China coast.
Rockets coach Kevin McHale said Lin learned last season about the grind of a full NBA season and praised him for the hard work he put in over the summer to improve his game.
"He worked really, really hard," McHale said. "I think he's going to get better and better."
Around the league
Pistons • Guard Rodney Stuckey had surgery on his broken right thumb. The team said he'll wear a splint for two weeks before being re-evaluated. The Pistons announced Thursday that Stuckey broke a bone in his thumb after catching it in a car door. He averaged 11.5 points in 76 games last season.
Mavericks • Backup center Brandan Wright is out indefinitely after injuring his left shoulder in practice.
The team said he sustained a small fracture Tuesday but will not need surgery.
He will be evaluated weekly and there is no timetable for his return.