The NBA off-season got off to a bang this summer with all the trades and acquisitions made throughout the league. The Warriors got better by bringing back all of their core pieces and also added some new faces to reinforce the bench. The rest of the NBA scrambled to make moves to compete with the Warriors, but one can argue that the competition got worse.
With Kyrie Irving wanting out of Cleveland, the Warriors biggest threat to another title is in serious danger of not even making the Finals. Without Kyrie, the Cavs are still a very good team, but not one that can contend with the Warriors. The Rockets added Chris Paul and are actively pursuing Carmelo Anthony, but even then that still doesn’t seem like it’s enough to beat the Warriors.
Things have cooled off as of late, but we might see one or two blockbuster trades before the start of the season. Time is ticking, the 2017-18 season is just around the corner and the NBA has officially announced some of the key games that will kick off the new season, along with the Christmas match-ups as well.
The Warriors will open the season against James Harden and Paul at Oracle Arena, where they will be getting their rings. Also, the Warriors can send quite a statement by blowing the Rockets out of the water in the season opener. The Warriors will get their first look at the Harden-Paul combo, but that night will be all about the rings.
For the third straight year the Warriors will play the Cavaliers on Christmas, but this time the game will be in Oakland. The home team has won the Christmas Day match-up the last two years, but what’s intriguing about this year is the Cavs’ current roster situation. Irving is still a member for the Cavs, but will that remain the same on December 25th? We don’t know, but we will be eager to find out.
The first road game for the Warriors will be against the New Orleans Pelicans on October 20th. For more information, here’s the official press release from the Warriors:
OAKLAND, Calif. – The National Basketball Association announced today that the NBA Champion Golden State Warriors’ 2017-18 season, presented by Kaiser Permanente, will tip off at home against the Houston Rockets on Tuesday, October 17. Prior to the game, which tips off at 7:30 p.m. (PDT) on TNT, the Warriors will receive their 2016-17 NBA Championship rings and raise their fifth championship banner at Oracle Arena.
Additionally, as part of Opening Week, the Warriors will play a nationally televised game on Friday, October 20 at New Orleans, tipping off at 6:30 p.m. (PDT) on ESPN.
The NBA also announced that the Warriors will meet the Cleveland Cavaliers on Christmas Day for a third consecutive year in a rematch of the past three NBA Finals. The game, which will tip off at 12:00 p.m. (PST) at Oracle Arena and be televised on ABC, will mark Golden State’s fifth-straight appearance on the NBA’s Christmas Day slate and is the seventh time in the last eight years that the Warriors will play on the holiday.
The Warriors will open at home for the 14th time in the last 16 seasons and own an all-time record of 4-0 in home openers following a championship season. Golden State holds an all-time record of 11-15 on Christmas Day.
In 2016-17, the Warriors posted an NBA-best record of 67-15 (.817) to become the first team in NBA history to win at least 65 games in three-straight seasons (67, 73, 67). Golden State set an NBA postseason record for winning percentage with a 16-1 (.941) mark that included a playoff-record 15-straight wins, defeating the Cavaliers in the 2017 NBA Finals to earn the team’s second championship in three seasons.
The complete 2017-18 regular-season schedule, which is being finalized, will be announced next week.
For information on ticket availability, including single-game ticket presales, partial season package options, and the Warriors’ official resale marketplace, where season ticketholders and other fans resell tickets that are guaranteed by the Warriors organization, please visit warriors.com or call 888-GSW-HOOP. The Warriors ticket marketplace offers a safe and convenient way for fans to access all levels of tickets throughout the regular season and playoffs. Fans interested in securing presale access for partial plans and individual game tickets may do so by joining the Season Ticket Holder Priority Wait List, which currently has over 40,000 members.