NBA schedule: Lonzo Ball, Warriors, Sixers all over 10 early season games to watch
The NBA schedule dropped Monday, and even though it's August, hoops junkies are circling dates. Good news: Next season the league is cracking down on resting players. That could mean punishment for resting healthy players during nationally televised games, or perhaps a rule stipulating how many starters a team can rest in a given game; either way, as you go through the schedule identifying matchups to watch on TV -- or potentially attend -- there is less worry about whether stars will be playing.
With that in mind, here are 10 matchups that jump out as can't-miss games:
Boston Celtics at Cleveland Cavaliers : October 17 (Opening Night)
The league picked two solid matchups to kick off the season, beginning with this one. If the Cavs still have Kyrie Irving , it's a first look at whether Boston has significantly closed the gap in the East with the additions of Gordon Hayward and Jayson Tatum. If Irving has been traded, this becomes a bigger spectacle because it's the first look at whoever Cleveland has landed in a trade to play next to LeBron James .
Houston Rockets at Golden State Warriors : October 17 (Opening Night)
Ring night at Oracle. Chris Paul 's first game with the Rockets. This has shootout written all over it, featuring perhaps the two best 3-point shooting teams in history. With all the energy of opening night, and given the presumed adjustment period Paul and the Rockets will endure, it's unlikely this game will tell us a lot about whether the Rockets can ultimately challenge Golden State in the West, but it's a first look. Will Paul scale back his mid-range game? Where, and how, will James Harden get most of his touches? Will the Warriors put up 130? This is the perfect opening nightcap.
Philadelphia 76ers at Washington Wizards : October 18
How can you not be excited to see what this Sixers team looks like with Ben Simmons , Joel Embiid and Markelle Fultz ? With the veteran additions of J.J. Redick and Amir Johnson , plenty of people expect Philly to make the playoffs, perhaps as something even more than a slip-in eight-seed (SportsLine projects the Sixers as the East's No. 8 seed, with 41.3 wins). We can start to honestly assess whether Sam Hinkie's process was worth all the losing. It certainly seems like it was on paper, and if Fultz manages to impress in his debut, against John Wall no less, the optimism is only going to grow.
Los Angeles Clippers at Los Angeles Lakers : October 19
Lonzo Ball 's debut. Say no more. The guy turned Summer League into a can't-miss event, and most every game he plays is going to be appointment television. Just ask LaVar Ball. There are so many questions about how his game will translate, yet before any of them are answered, Lonzo Ball has an it factor few players in the league -- let alone rookies -- can match. Imagine if Irving has been dealt to the Clippers. It's not out of the question.
Warriors at New Orleans Pelicans : October 20
It almost feels like the Pelicans added DeMarcus Cousins in the offseason. Yes, they got him at the All-Star break last season, but in terms of excitement regarding the Cousins-Anthony Davis pairing, it feels like the second half of last season was a grace period. Now they start fresh, and there is still reason to believe a team with two of the top 10 players in the league can be something real. What better way to measure their potential than against the champs with the home crowd fired up in New Orleans? We're probably going to find out pretty quickly whether this pairing will work. If it does not, Cousins could be on the trade block by January.
Celtics at Sixers: October 20
Did the Celtics make a mistake effectively choosing Tatum over Fultz, who was most experts' top-rated player in the 2017 draft? This game won't answer that question, but you can bet Twiiter will have a decided verdict if one dramatically outplays the other. Tatum is going to be particularly fun to watch as the season goes on. Boston, in addition to passing on Fultz, reportedly could have gotten into Jimmy Butler or Paul George trade talks had they been willing to part with Tatum. But they prioritized him from the start. That's a lot of hype, and a lot of pressure. If he's able to score right away, Boston is going to be a really exciting team.
San Antonio Spurs at Minnesota Timberwolves : November 15
With the acquisitions of Butler, Taj Gibson and Jeff Teague to put next to Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins , the Wolves are a team people are talking about as a potential top-four seed in the West (SportsLine projects the Wolves as the No. 5 seed in, with 47 wins). Meanwhile, the Spurs are as true a regular-season challenge a promising-but-unproven team can face. The Wolves have the talent to be in that top-four mix. At the same time, their lack of shooting could land them right back in the lottery, given how stacked the West is. These early looks at Minnesota are going to be very interesting.
Sixers at Lakers: November 15
This is one of two Ball head-to-head matchups you won't want to miss. There are perhaps five guys who could end up being the best point guard in this celebrated class, but Ball and Fultz have consistently gotten the hype over De'Aaron Fox , Dennis Smith Jr. and certainly Frank Ntilikina -- the 19-year-old who joins the New York Knicks via France's top league. There is a feeling Ball and Fultz could be future faces of the league, and the is the first look at them on the same NBA court, potentially guarding one another most of the game.
Lakers at Sacramento Kings : November 22
The second head-to-head involving Ball you'll want to settle in to watch, this one against Fox, who flat out dominated Ball when Kentucky Wildcats took out UCLA Bruins in last season's NCAA Tournament. He was strikingly better in every area, scoring 39 points to Ball's 10 -- and even that doesn't tell the whole story of just how much more impactful Fox was in that game. After the game, Fox said he put a beating on Ball to "shut LaVar Ball up." It didn't work. As people started questioning whether Fox should go ahead of Ball in the draft, LaVar Ball completely dismissed the idea that one game means anything. The two were set to square off in Summer League, but Lonzo Ball sat out. Even in Summer League, people were disappointed about that. Twitter was full of "Lonzo's ducking Fox" bashes. Yeah, this matchup has all kinds of intrigue.
Warriors at Oklahoma City Thunder : November 22
There's a case to be made that Thunder not only are the biggest threat to the Warriors in the West, but the entire league. With the additions of George and Patrick Patterson , and the re-signing of Andre Roberson , they are perhaps the best-equipped team to guard Golden State because of all that perimeter versatility. They can switch everything and have Steven Adams , probably the second-best defensive center in the league, at the rim. George's scoring allows for the Thunder to leave Roberson -- a terrible shooter but elite defender -- on the court more often in critical stretches, though it would still help if Roberson could at least be a threat to hit the corner 3. This will be very interesting to see how these two match up early in the season. Also, Kevin Durant returning to OKC always will be an event.