NBA schedule: Cavaliers face Celtics, Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan meet again

The national attention on the Cavaliers has briefly turned away to focus on the Chicago Bulls and Derrick Rose's injuries, but the process of LeBron James and his crew growing together continues in Cleveland.

David Blatt's team visits Boston on Friday to highlight the early slot of the 10-game schedule. The Cavaliers are coming off a promising performance against the New Orleans Pelicans, as they poured in 118 points while hitting 13-of-27 three-point attempts. James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love were clicking, and Blatt can only hope the offensive chemistry was a building block rather than a single-game aberration. If it's the former, then perhaps the Cavs can focus more on improving a defense that allowed 111 points and 44 percent three-point shooting to the Pelicans on Monday.

The Celtics find themselves 3-4 on the year and with mixed degrees of success. They saw the negative side of their rebuilding project on Wednesday, when they blew a fantastic start and fell 109-94 to an injury-plagued Oklahoma City Thunder team.

While the Celtics have struggled on defense this year, their offense has quietly been effective and should be a challenge for Cleveland, which is likewise still attempting to find its identity on that end of the court. Boston is leading the NBA in assists per game and should test the Cavs' rotations throughout. Plus, what's wrong with a matchup between James and Rajon Rondo, whose respective playoff berths have crossed paths enough to make it a must-watch?

Heat vs. Hawks, 7:30 p.m. ET

Paul Millsap is coming off a monstrous 30-point, 17-rebound game against the Utah Jazz, and he will line up against Chris Bosh in a battle of undersold power forwards. Bosh and Dwyane Wade have helped the Heat to a 5-3 start in the post-LeBron era and have taken to coach Erik Spoelstra's new plan well. As a random sidenote, Miami forward Luol Deng visits Atlanta for the first time since he found himself in the middle of the Hawks' race scandal.

Spurs vs. Lakers, 10 p.m. ET

Gregg Popovich's crew hasn't gotten off to the cleanest start to the year but might be back on track after solid wins over the Clippers and Warriors. Maybe that bodes poorly considering the entertainment value of the Spurs' game against the 1-7 Lakers, but there's a certain appeal to watching the very unique lives of two aging superstars in Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan.

Nuggets vs. Pacers, 7 p.m. (NBATV)

Bucks vs. Magic, 7 p.m.

Jazz vs. Knicks, 7:30 p.m.

Sixers vs. Rockets, 8 p.m.

Timberwolves vs. Pelicans, 8 p.m.

Pistons vs. Thunder, 8 p.m.

Hornets vs. Suns, 9 p.m.