Rockets take on the Celtics in Valley matchup Wednesday

HIDALGO — The seven-month countdown ends Wednesday.

The Houston Rockets will play in the Rio Grande Valley for the first time since 1975 when they square off in an exhibition game against the Boston Celtics. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m. at Hidalgo’s Dodge Arena, 2600 N. 10th St. Tickets are sold out.

The moment can’t come soon enough for Valley basketball fans and for the front office and staff of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the local NBA Development League franchise. The game was announced in March.

“It’s going to be exciting,” Vipers President and General Manager Brian Cooper said. “The spotlight will be on the Valley.”

The media blitz and preparation for tonight have been intense for Vipers staff.

The Rockets opened training camp at the McAllen Convention Center on Sunday and Monday and returned to the Valley on Tuesday night after playing the Spurs in an exhibition game in San Antonio.

Vipers spokesman Jonah Goldberg has been putting in 16-hour days over the last week, preparing for the Rockets’ arrival. He expected to issue 65 media credentials for both the Rockets’ training camp and tonight’s game.

“We had all these random news sites coming out of the woodwork,” said Goldberg, noting he typically issues fewer than 10 credentials per game for the Vipers.

The Houston Chronicle and Boston Globe are expected to send their teams’ beat writers, and ESPN.com is sending NBA reporter Ric Bucher. The game will also be televised in Houston and Boston, Cooper said.

“This is like the Super Bowl for the Rio Grande Valley,” Goldberg said. “It’s tough to keep on top of everything because there are so many moving parts. We just want to make sure it’s a great experience for everybody.”

The last time the Rockets played in the Valley, they faced the Spurs — then an ABA franchise — in a preseason game at the then Pan American University Fieldhouse in Edinburg. Future Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich led the team to a 113-109 overtime win against a Spurs squad that featured George “the Iceman” Gervin.

The Monitor declared in its game story that the Rockets had claimed the “Texas pro basketball championship outright.”

This time around, the Rockets and their minor-league counterpart the Vipers have a more modest goal: trying to boost the popularity of pro basketball in the Valley.

Cooper said the Vipers have already sold 1,433 season tickets, compared to 572 at this time last year. Their season opener is Nov. 27 in Austin.

“With (forward/center) Joey Dorsey and (point guard) Aaron Brooks, we’ve got a couple of players already familiar with the Valley,” Cooper said, referring to two Rockets starters who recently came up from the Vipers. “That’s kind of the great thing about it, being able to follow players. People remember when (Brooks) was down here and now he’s one of the best point guards in the NBA.”

The Rockets will open training camp and play a preseason game in the Valley through 2012, the teams announced in June. Next year’s opponent will likely be either the Orlando Magic or the Spurs, Cooper said, though “nothing has been set.”

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Nick Pipitone covers McAllen and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4446. David Hinojosa covers sports for Valley Freedom Newspapers. He can be reached at (956) 683-4442.

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IF YOU GO

>> What: Houston Rockets vs. Boston Celtics

>> When: Tip-off: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday

>> Where: Dodge Arena, 2600 N. 10th St., Hidalgo

>> Cost: Tickets are sold out

HISTORIC MATCHUP

>> Check out The Monitor’s coverage of the 1975 game in Edinburg between the Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs: http://www.nba.com/dleague/riograndevalley/monitor032609.html