Japanese basketball’s B-League will tip off its 2024-25 first-division season with the defending champion Hiroshima Dragonflies facing the Gunma Crane Thunders on Oct. 3, the league said Monday. Japan’s co-hosting of the Basketball World Cup last summer boosted the sport’s popularity in the country, with total attendance at B1 and B2 games in 2023-24 surging 40 percent from the previous season to a record 4.52 million. The season opener will be played at Gunma’s Open House Arena Ota. The Nagasaki Velca and Chiba Jets will begin playing at their respective new homes — Happiness Arena in Nagasa…