NBA 2014-15 schedule: Top 5 dates to circle on your calendar

The highly anticipated, much awaited NBA calendar was released on the official website of the league on Wednesday. Waiting for the regular season is hard enough considering how long the off-season is, but the league just madekilling time till opening night on October 28theven tougher by announcing the match-ups two months in advance.Its the duty of the NBA office to inform the franchises of their teams schedule well in advance and although this makes the wait for die-hard fans much more excruciating, it also serves themthe chance to circle out key days on their calendar.The cumulative calendar for all teams can be seen here.Watching the big matches is going to be a must, and if there are multiple contests stacked togetherthen who would want to miss any of the action? Keeping that in mind, here are the top 5 match days of the calendar which have two or more must watch games on the same night:

#1 October 28th

Matches to watch:

 – Dallas Mavericks @ San Antonio Spurs

 – Houston Rockets @ Los Angeles Lakers

Following tradition, the defending champions San Antonio Spurs will tip off the new season with a ring distribution ceremony followed by the fifth title banner being lifted to the rafters. While all this is going on Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks, the only team to stretch the Spurs in last year’s Playoffs during their first round encounter, will be plotting how to spoil the party in the locker room.

If watching the champions play is a delightful entree to start off with, the dessert next up is sure to stand up to the hype.

In the second game of this double header televised on Turner Network Television (TNT), Dwight Howard and the Houston Rockets will face Kobe Bryant and his Lakers at the Staples Center. While the match gets its hype from being the first encounter between Bryant and Howard since they were teammates a season ago, it is also a game where Lakers’ point guard will be facing his former franchise, the team that traded him.