NBA releases 2021-22 schedule; Bucks-Suns rematch set for February

The NBA has unveiled the 2021-22 season's full schedule, highlighted by a Feb. 10 tilt between the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns in the desert - the teams' first meeting since the hard-fought 2021 Finals.

Fans can now circle many other notable dates on their calendars, including:

Oct. 20: The Tampa Bay Toronto Raptors are tentatively set to return home for their first home game in Canada since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Raps will take on the visiting Washington Wizards.

Nov. 10: The Detroit Pistons and No. 1 pick Cade Cunningham visit the Houston Rockets and No. 2 pick Jalen Green. Green has made a commotion in recent days, going out of his way to diss the Motor City while maintaining that he should've been the first pick in last month's draft.

Nov. 30: It might not have the same juice right now as the league's other subway series, but with both the Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks finishing top four in the Eastern Conference for the first time season since 2012-13, their next game at Barclays Center will have heightened stakes.

Dec. 3: The battle for L.A. continues with the Los Angeles Lakers squaring off against the Los Angeles Clippers. The Clippers took all three meetings last year.

Feb. 3: Kyle Lowry returns to Toronto as a member of the Miami Heat. Despite the late-career defection, Raptors fans will surely give their beloved point man a champion's welcome.

March 13: Wait, the Boston Celtics haven't retired Kevin Garnett's jersey yet? Apparently so. The team will finally raise No. 5 to the rafters when the Dallas Mavericks come to town in mid-March.

April 10: With all 30 teams in action on the final day of the regular season (including eight teams playing on the second night of a back-to-back), there will be plenty of intrigue as sides jockey for position - especially with the play-in format back for another year.

The league had previously announced the marquee games that will make up the national television schedule for opening week and the Christmas Day slate.

Opening night on Oct. 19 will feature the Nets at the reigning-champion Bucks, followed by the Golden State Warriors hosting the Lakers.

Of the five games scheduled for Dec. 25, Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks' return to Madison Square Garden to face the New York Knicks promises to continue one of the East's burgeoning rivalries after this summer's playoff battle.