NBA Schedule 2017-18: 5 best games of the season

SAN ANTONIO, TX - MAY 2: Russell Westbrook #0 of the Oklahoma City Thunder handles the ball against Kawhi Leonard #2 of the San Antonio Spurs in Game Two of the Western Conference Semifinals during the 2016 NBA Playoffs on May 2, 2016 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2016 NBAE (Photos by Chris Covatta/NBAE via Getty Images) /

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3. Celtics at Wizards — Feb. 8

This matchup figures to be extremely entertaining, with little love lost between these teams who combined to win 102 games last season. In addition to their memorable Eastern Conference semifinal series that went the distance, these two squads split their four regular-season games. Each and every one of those 11 games last season and postseason combined was won by the home team. With that said, the Wizards will be home in this one, where they beat the Celtics by an average of 18.0 points last year (including the playoffs). Boston, however, is a prideful group that added Gordon Hayward to its strong nucleus this offseason. Washington made offseason news too, though, re-signing restricted free agent Otto Porter and agreeing to terms with John Wall on a four-year, $170 million extension.

During the grueling seven-game series, Wall put up big numbers with averages of 25.1 points, 10.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game, but the Celtics’ defense made him work harder than usual to accumulate those stats. Particularly, Wall was much less efficient offensively, requiring 23.0 field-goal attempts per game compared to his regular-season average of 18.4. After getting to the line 8.3 times per game against the Hawks in the opening round, Boston held Wall to a more reasonable 6.1 free-throw attempts per contest.

Going into the offseason, one of Washington’s biggest priorities was strengthening its bench that was riddled with injury last season. Coach Scott Brooks could not adequately rely on his inconsistent bench even when it was relatively healthy toward the end of the season. With Tim Frazier, Mike Scott and Jodie Meeks now on board, some help is on the way, but it appears as though Wall, Bradley Beal and Otto Porter will still have do the team’s offensive heavy lifting.

Next: 2. Warriors at Rockets -- Jan. 4

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