Ranking the top 10 games of the 2018-19 NBA schedule

8. Nov. 8/Dec. 25, 2018 — Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (TNT/ABC)

We’re cheating a bit on this one, but both of the early meetings between the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder deserve a spot on this list.

The first one, on Nov. 8, will feature Carmelo Anthony‘s first game back in OKC since being jettisoned via trade and buyout. Bragging rights will be on the line as Melo attempts to prove he’s not washed up, that he was right to refuse coming off the bench and that the system was the source of his down year with the Thunder, not him.

The second matchup is a primetime Christmas Day showdown, which always comes with the chance of Russell Westbrook going ballistic. He’ll be facing his former Thunder buddy, James Harden, who just so happens to be the league’s reigning MVP. The Rockets are the West’s reigning 1-seed, Russ will be squaring off with Chris Paul, Paul George could spend some time on the Beard…the juicy matchups are endless.

Both of these teams will be fighting to prove themselves as the biggest threat to the Warriors in the West, and after an offseason where OKC got slightly better and Houston got slightly worse, that designation is up for grabs. At its core though, this is also a battle between Melo’s critics and Westbrook’s critics. Which one was really the problem last year?