PHOENIX — The 2024-25 Phoenix Suns are set to begin regular season play in just around 10 weeks following the NBA schedule release yesterday.

While the Suns will have numerous intriguing matchups with playoff-caliber squads and meetings with Eastern Conference stars that only come to Phoenix once a season, these matchups stand out above the rest going into October.

The Celtics are the defending champs, and the Saturday night primetime game on March 9 last season was a treat to watch – this will be a daring test for the Suns in the waning weeks of the season ahead of what could be a playoff or even championship push.

The Nets meeting is dependent on if F Cam Johnson is still with Brooklyn on November 27. This would make for his second return to Phoenix since being traded to the Nets, but if rumors are accurate, he could fall victim to a Nets’ fire sale that sent teammate Mikal Bridges to a new borough in New York.

If he does get moved, this would be one of the least fascinating matchups on the schedule by a wide margin.

The Mavericks and Bucks will always be inherently tied to Phoenix following classic playoff series over the preceding years. The star power doesn’t hurt either.

This is one of the group play in the second annual NBA Cup which will match up the rivals in front of a national audience – and will be the LeBron James/Kevin Durant matchup that means the most out of the three that will be seen in the first month of the new season.

The Lakers and Suns already had two classic regular season meetings last season with NBA Cup implications, including a controversial finish in one of the quarterfinal games that the Suns obviously went on to lose.

The most unheralded storyline in this game is the Devin Booker-Anthony Davis co-star matchup – as both have been among the most impactful stars in the league for years, but frequently get overshadowed in marquee games.

This will be the second time that Bridges has returned to play in Phoenix following being traded away in February of 2023 – this time as part of a genuine contender in the Knicks.

Bridges joins multiple collegiate teammates, OG Anunoby, Julius Randle, and the headliner in Jalen Brunson to make up one of the more well-rounded squads in the league – this will be a very stout early season test for Phoenix nearly a year after Brunson scored 50 points in front of a Footprint Center crowd on the night Shawn Marion’s Ring of Honor ceremony.

This may not be a playoff preview by any means, but this contest features storylines galore.

This game is set to be played at the University of Texas’ Moody Center in Austin – which is Suns star Kevin Durant’s college stomping grounds.

It also features yet another game of freshly signed Spurs PG Chris Paul facing off against his former squad, while the Jeremy Sochan-Devin Booker tension is something to watch as well.

Lastly, Victor Wembanyama is widely expected to take yet another leap into superstardom this season – and it will always be a treat to watch the generational French big man regardless of whether he is the opponent or not.

Christmas Day is typically the best day of the NBA regular season ratings wise – and this is a prime opportunity for Phoenix to make a statement despite it being the night cap game.

There certainly is some skepticism surrounding the Nuggets after a shocking early playoff exit last season, but they still feature the best player in the world in Nikola Jokic along with a talented supporting cast – they will be a challenge each and every time the two teams face off.

The playoff rematch every Suns fan is looking forward to.

The Suns made the T-Wolves look completely disjointed and overmatched in three regular season matchups in 2023-24. None of that mattered.

The T-Wolves completely flipped the script en route to a series sweep in what ended the most disappointing season any franchise in the NBA experienced last season.

The aftermath was seismic. The Suns felt the necessity to bring in a new head coach, acquire not one, but two “pure” point guards, and upgrade around the margins off of the bench in what could be a formula to best Minnesota this season.

This game will almost certainly be one that features playoff-esque intensity in November – so it certainly is deserving of being number 1 on the list.