Schedule full of big games

NEW YORK — DeMarcus Cousins will make an early-season trip back to Sacramento, while new Celtics forward Gordon Hayward will wait almost all season to see Utah again.

Chris Paul’s return to his old Clippers home is part of a Martin Luther King Jr. Day tripleheader that includes another NBA Finals rematch, while Paul George and Jimmy Butler also learned the dates of their return games yesterday when the NBA released its full 2017-18 schedule — which for the first time in history features no teams playing four games in five nights.

Opening night is Oct. 17, the earliest the regular season has started in 37 years.

On Oct. 26, Cousins returns to California’s capital city to play for the first time since the Kings traded him to New Orleans.

From there, it’s another five months until Hayward

NBA

plays in Salt Lake City for the first time since joining the C’s as a free agent. The C’s visit the Jazz on March 28. Other nights of note:

• George travels with the Thunder back to Indiana on Dec. 13.

• Butler takes the Timberwolves into Chicago on Feb. 9.

• The All-Star Game is Feb. 18 in Los Angeles.

The Christmas schedule is headlined by NBA Finals foes Golden State and Cleveland meeting for the first time since the Warriors’ five-game victory in June.

On Jan. 15, Paul’s Houston Rockets play the Clippers at Staples Center for the first time since acquiring the point guard to play alongside James Harden.

The regular season ends April 11.