Homecomings will be regular highlight this season
NEW YORK — DeMarcus Cousins will make an earlyseason trip back to Sacramento, while Gordon Hayward will wait almost the full campaign to see Utah again.
Chris Paul’s return to his old Clippers home is part of a Martin Luther King Day tripleheader that includes another NBA Finals rematch, while Paul George and Jimmy Butler also learned the dates of their return games on Monday when the NBA released its full 2017-18 schedule.
For the first time in league history, it features no teams playing four games in five nights.
The opening-week national TV games and the five-game Christmas schedule were released last week. Opening night is Oct 17, the earliest the regular season has started in 37 years.
Cousins will return to California’s capital city on Oct 26 to play for the first time since the Kings traded him to New Orleans last February.
From there, it’s another five months until Hayward plays in Salt Lake City for the first time since joining the Boston Celtics as a free agent in July. The Celtics visit the Jazz on March 28 for an ESPN game. Other nights of note: • George travels back to Indiana on Dec 13 for the first time since the Pacers surprisingly dealt him to Oklahoma City.
• Butler, another All-Star who went west in the summer, takes the Timberwolves into Chicago on Feb 9.
• The NBA’s top two picks go head-to-head for the first time on Nov 15 when Markelle Fultz and Philadelphia visit Lonzo Ball and the Lakers.
• The All-Star Game is Feb 18 in Los Angeles.
The Christmas schedule, as usual, is headlined by NBA Finals foes Golden State and Cleveland meeting for the first time since the Warriors’ five-game victory in June.
They will meet again on Jan 15 on the Cavaliers’ home floor.
Later that night, Paul’s Houston Rockets play the Clippers at Staples Center for the first time since acquiring the point guard to play alongside James Harden in their backcourt. The opener of the TNT tripleheader features Memphis’ return to the Martin Luther King Day schedule, hosting the Lakers.
The regular season ends on April 11.