Around two months remain until the 2024-25 NBA season is upon us. The year will feature many exciting games and matchups featuring the league’s brightest, and the NBA Cup will bring even more intrigue to the regular season. However, for many Wizards fans, this regular season will be quite depressing. The team has very little hope of making the playoffs, is predicted to finish with one of the worst records in the Eastern Conference, and is clearly in a rebuilding stage. Still, it’s not like there’s no exciting happening this year! There are plenty of key matchups that Wizards fans and general NBA fans may find entertaining to watch. Here’s a list:
Highlights of Wizards Season Schedule
Rookie Matchups
The Wizards have three key promising rookies: Alex Sarr, Carlton Carrington, and Kyshawn George. Sarr is the number two overall pick, and he’s shown flashes of greatness. However, fans are wondering how he’ll bounce back after a historic shooting slump at summer league. Carrington impressed during summer league with his shooting and versatility, and he’ll likely be a key guard for this squad. However, most of the media attention is on Sarr. There will be plenty of times that these rookies will face the other top rookies in the league, and it’ll surely be quite the show. Here are a few of those matchups:
October 30th, Wizards vs. Hawks (featuring #1 Zaccharie Risacher)
November 11th, Wizards @ Rockets (featuring #4 Reed Sheppard)
December 8th, Wizards @ Grizzlies (featuring #9 Zach Edey)
Wizards Schedule Features Home Stand to Start Season
The Wizards play their first game of the season on October 24th at home, against the Boston Celtics. This doesn’t sound like a special occurrence on the surface, as the Wizards play the Celtics quite a bit. However, this will be the Wizards’ first time having their first game of the season at home since 2018. The last time that happened, the Miami Heat won 113-112, with Wizards arch-nemesis Kelly Olynyk getting the game-winning put-back. My guess is that this game against the defending champs won’t be as close.
Another surprise in the Wizards schedule is that five of the team’s first six games are at home. In the past few years, the Wizards have started their season with long road trips, making DC fans wait quite a long time before seeing their team in person. This time, the Wizards will play the Celtics and Cavaliers on October 26th before their first road game against the Hawks. The Hawks will then play the Wizards two days later at home (see above), and then they’ll take on the Heat and Warriors before a road trip.
Wizards vs. Former Wizards
It is always exciting to play against former teammates. There are quite a few former Wizards who made names for themselves in Washington but will be returning in different uniforms. Here are two of those key games to pay attention to:
December 5th, Wizards vs. Mavericks: Daniel Gafford makes his return to DC
February 26th, Wizards vs. Blazers: The return of Deni Avdija
Additionally, the Wizards will play the Suns in Phoenix on January 16th. This matchup against Bradley Beal will be the squad’s first and only game on national television during this season.
Even though their record likely won’t feature many wins, this should still be an exciting season for Wizards fans!
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