Basketball" returns to the Japanese national team after 2 years! Rui Hachimura scored 22 points and led the team to an 88-68 victory over South Korea.

In order to prepare for the second round of the 2027 Basketball World Cup Asia Qualifying Tournament, the Japanese team will hold practice matches with the South Korean team at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo today and tomorrow. This is also the return of the 28-year-old Rui Hachimura, who plays for the NBA Los Angeles Clippers, to the Japanese national team in two years. Rui Hachimura scored 22 points today, helping the Japanese men's basketball team defeat South Korea 88-68.

This is the second time Hachimura has put on the Japanese team jersey since the 2024 Paris Olympics. Rui Hachimura scored 8 points in the first 2 minutes of the game, and the Japanese team led 18-15 after the first quarter. In the second quarter, Japanese guard Yuki Kawamura scored two three-pointers. Japan scored 28-12 in the single quarter and led 40-27 at halftime. After the basket change, the Japanese team continued to expand its lead, leading 74-46 at the end of three quarters. In the end, the Japanese team won.

Hachimura played 23 minutes and 40 seconds in this game, making 7 of 15 shots from the field, including 3 three-pointers, and scored a game-high 22 points. Yuki Kawamura contributed 12 points and 6 assists, naturalized foreign player Josh Hawkinson had 18 points and 14 rebounds, and Keio Tominaga scored 10 points.

Hachimura said in an interview after the game, "It's really great. The last time I played in Japan was 8 years ago, and that was also the last time. I'm really happy to be able to play in front of everyone like this again.

Regarding his role in the Japanese team, Rui Hachimura believes, "There are several players in our team who have played all the way from the Tokyo Olympics to now, and now there are also young players joining, and I myself have also entered the stage of a veteran. It is also our responsibility to make Japan stronger, so I have been playing with this idea in mind.

In the second round of the 2027 Basketball World Cup Asian Qualifying Tournament, the Japanese team will meet Saudi Arabia on August 28 and Qatar on August 31.