2023-24 NBA Schedule: Breaking Down Top 10 Games of the Season
The era of NBA parity may be upon us.
Last season saw the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks dumped out of the playoffs in the first round. The Miami Heat went from the play-in tournament to the NBA Finals. The Denver Nuggets looked to be backsliding into the postseason before emerging as deserving champions.
Thanks in part to the new collective bargaining agreement, this may be the new normal in a league where the power typically resided with a small handful of franchises.
Whether that generates more interest in the regular season remains to be seen, but there are certainly some intriguing matchups coming in the months ahead.
Dallas Mavericks at San Antonio Spurs
1 of 10
The San Antonio Spurs could be playing the Washington Generals, and Victor Wembanyama's NBA debut would still be appointment viewing for fans.
In time, the hype surrounding the 19-year-old might look misplaced. For some, anything short of a first-ballot Hall of Fame career will be a disappointment.
But the preseason excitement is entirely justified.
"The NBA has never seen a 7'5" player with Wembanyama's skill set for self-creation, shot-making and passing," Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman wrote in his final scouting report. "He'll have the chance to dominate stretches of games just with his tools and mobility for finishing and defense, but outrageous fluidity as a driver, shooter and post player could also turn Wembanyama into one of the game's top half-court scorers as well."
Tim Duncan had 15 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks in his first NBA game. David Robinson was even better (23 points, 17 rebounds and three blocks) when he debuted in the Association.
Maybe Wembanyama can emulate those legendary big men with a double-double of his own.
Phoenix Suns at Denver Nuggets
2 of 10
The Phoenix Suns posed the stiffest challenge to the Nuggets in the 2023 playoffs, though that's not saying a whole lot when Denver's four wins all came by double figures.
Looking into the season ahead, Phoenix might be the biggest threat to the Nuggets' Western Conference supremacy.
Devin Booker and Kevin Durant will have more cohesion on the court with the benefit of a full training camp and preseason. Effectively swapping Chris Paul for Bradley Beal raises the Suns' ceiling. And they did well to address their roster around the margins with limited means.
The Nuggets, meanwhile, are basically running it back with the same roster, though the departure of Bruce Brown is likely to be felt. Brown was a valuable role player, and Denver didn't the salary cap flexibility to replace him with a similarly capable wing.
High-profile games like this can always be spoiled by load management, but you'd think stars from both teams will relish their first head-to-head encounter.
Boston Celtics at Miami Heat
3 of 10
The Heat and Boston Celtics have met in the playoffs in three of the last four years, and each of those series needed six games to determine a winner.
"It's personal to everybody now," now-former Miami guard Max Strus said during the 2023 playoffs. "Everybody was here last year. The guys that weren't have taken that on and they know what happened last year, and we take that personal. We should come out and show it tonight."
For fans of both franchises, the battles between the Heat and Celtics in the 2011 and 2012 postseasons haven't been forgotten, either.
Beyond that shared history, the dichotomy of this rivalry right now is particularly fascinating.
On one side, you have a team that consistently wins in the regular season but cannot rise to the occasion when it counts. The Celtics were knocking on their door of their long-coveted 18th title but couldn't put away the Golden State Warriors in the 2022 Finals.
On the other side, you have a team that can look suspect in the regular season before turning into a juggernaut when the lights are on brightest. The Heat were three minutes away from a play-in tournament exit before their improbable Finals run last year.
With all of the factors at play, this might be the most engaging matchup in the NBA.
Detroit Pistons at Houston Rockets
4 of 10
Amen and Ausar Thompson made history when they were selected fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 2023 NBA draft. No sets of brothers had ever been top-five picks in the same class.
"There are no words really to express how I'm feeling," their mother, Maya, said to ESPN's Eric Woodyard the night of the draft. "To see them back-to-back, that blows my mind. The world is just opening up to them. There's not limit. So, I'm just very excited about what's in store so just very, very happy."
The Thompsons were teammates at Pine Crest School in Florida before both signing with Overtime Elite on their way to the NBA. Now, they'll be on opposite sides, and the dynamic wings will likely be drawn against one another frequently on defensive assignments.
Their presence will liven up what is a game largely without many stakes between two rebuilding franchises.
Washington Wizards at Golden State Warriors
5 of 10
It's no secret the Golden State Warriors' 2022-23 season never fully recovered after Draymond Green punched Jordan Poole during training camp. Head coach Steve Kerr lamented how the moment did major damage to their locker-room chemistry.
This offseason, Golden State basically picked sides by signing Green to a four-year, $100 million contract and trading Poole to the Washington Wizards.
For understandable reasons, Poole didn't want to entertain much conversation about the topic after his introductory press conference with Washington.
The 24-year-old guard will almost certainly be carrying a massive chip on his shoulder during his first game back at Chase Center, though.
And because Poole will have the ultimate green light on offense for a Wizards franchise looking toward the future, the single-game record for shot attempts might be in danger.
Milwaukee Bucks at Miami Heat
6 of 10
It's difficult to say whether the Bucks' first-round loss to the Heat was the biggest upset in NBA playoffs history, but there's a strong case to be made it was the most shocking. Milwaukee was comprehensively beaten on the court and on the sidelines.
The full ramifications of that series may not reveal themselves for a few years.
The Bucks' embarrassment shined a light on how their championship window isn't necessarily open for as long as you think. Giannis Antetokounmpo can opt out of his contract after the 2024-25 season, and the pair of Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton just signed deals that allow them to do the same. Jrue Holiday can be a free agent as early as 2024.
In time, we might look back on the 2023 postseason as the moment when Milwaukee's competitive cycle started to unravel.
Of course, the team could just as likely thrive under first-year head coach Adrian Griffin and reassert itself as the one to beat in the Eastern Conference.
Sacramento Kings at Golden State Warriors
7 of 10
The Sacramento Kings arrived well ahead of schedule when they finished third in the Western Conference. Even neutral fans couldn't help but develop a soft spot for a franchise that had both young stars and a new tradition that deftly toes the line between campy and endearing.
It was unfortunately fitting, however, that the upstart Kings met their match in the playoffs against the NBA's only modern-day dynasty. The Golden State Warriors remained even-keeled after going behind 2-0 in the first round and displayed the kind of composure that only comes with experience.
With any luck, Sacramento will get another crack at Golden State in the 2024 postseason. Hopefully last year wasn't a false dawn for the Kings in terms of their contender credentials, either.
Memphis Grizzlies at Los Angeles Lakers
8 of 10
The warning signs were there for the second-seeded Memphis Grizzlies before they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round. They were already developing a reputation as front-runners.
Allowing Dillon Brooks to leave as a free agent and acquiring Marcus Smart leaves Memphis stronger on the court, and Smart can help to shoulder the playmaking load while Ja Morant serves his 25-game suspension.
The Grizzlies are presumably hopeful the 2021-22 Defensive Player of the Year can bring the kind of accountability that was lacking in the locker room as well.
LeBron James and the Lakers will be a great measuring stick to see how Memphis is progressing in its quest to be a genuine championship contender.
These teams may not like one another all that much, either.
Philadelphia 76ers at Boston Celtics
9 of 10
It's August, which means it's time to start talking yourself into the idea that this is the year everything finally clicks for Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers in the playoffs. The Sixers have a new coach. That has to matter right!?
Losing to the Celtics in the 2023 Eastern Conference semifinals might have been the most painful of the franchise's recent disappointments.
The stars seemed to be aligning. Embiid was the league MVP, and when he was out for Game 1 of the conference semis, James Harden dropped 45 points to propel Philly to victory. Harden had another 42-point outing in Game 4 to level things up before the 76ers claimed a 3-2 series lead in Game 5 to give themselves a close-out game at home.
Two defeats later and Philadelphia's inability to get out of the second round continues.
Claiming the season series over Boston in 2023-24 won't fully atone for what happened last spring but could help to exorcise some demons. The Celtics going 3-1 over their Atlantic Division rivals a season ago certainly foreshadowed what was to come.
Dallas Mavericks at Los Angeles Clippers
10 of 10
This is a regular-season game that's unlikely to foreshadow any postseason fight to come.
The Los Angeles Clippers were fifth in the West last year, and the Dallas Mavericks threw in the towel at the end in order to preserve the best shot at keeping its 2023 first-round pick. Neither team on paper looks to be the strongest in the conference.
But it's much better to view this through the prism of two teams that wished they had achieved much more to this point and face potentially volatile futures.
The Clippers haven't claimed the title they desperately sought when they paired Kawhi Leonard and Paul George together. With the two stars eligible to opt out in 2024, Los Angeles could face a major dilemma because the persistent injuries Leonard and George have battled present some long-term risk contract-wise.
L.A. isn't breaking up its illustrious duo anytime soon, but the team is following a concerning trajectory.
On the other side, the Mavericks had little choice but to re-sign Kyrie Irving giving him a three-year, $120 million deal that includes a player option for 2025-26. Dallas paid a steep price for the failure that was the Kristaps Porziņģis trade and incorrectly gauging Jalen Brunson's value on the court.
If the Irving gambit doesn't work out, the results could be disastrous.
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