This is like the Super Bowl - in China.

In China, Friday's NBA game between the Milwaukee Bucks and Houston Rockets is expected to draw massive TV ratings.

The excitement in China will be as palpable as that peculiar American quasi-holiday when virtually the whole nation stands glued to their television sets, amid parties and wild celebrations.

Yao Ming In a similar fashion, fan clubs of both Yi and Yao will host game parties around the country. The early-season showdown could change Chinese people's traditional definitions of watching a ball game, as they flock to bars and playgrounds with beers and basketballs in their hands.

"It's the two best basketball players in the country coming to play in the best basketball league in the world," said Wang Meng, a sports writer who covers the Rockets for Titan Sports, a Beijing-based newspaper. "It doesn't matter who wins. It's the best thing that can happen in China, because people will be excited either way."

Wang said the game is expected to draw more than 200 million viewers in China.

"The numbers are just extraordinary," said Heidi Ueberroth, the NBA's president of global marketing partnerships and international business operations. "It's very significant. It's showing how much the globalization of the league is on the rise."

"You don't always see Chinese fans watch a game in bars together, do you?" said Xiao Siyun, member of the basketball union at the University of Economics and Business in Beijing.

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