Grudge match
The Warriors take on the defending champion Cavaliers on Dec. 25. NBA schedule must-sees,
The NBA revealed its full 82game schedule for the 2016-17 season Thursday.
From Kevin Durant’s first game back in Oklahoma City to a Finals rematch between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors to Dwyane Wade’s return to Miami, check out what will surely be some of the season’s top contests.
melo Anthony, Kristaps Porzingis and Joakim Noah will have its work cut out for it on opening night. San Antonio Spurs at War
riors, Oct. 25, 10:30 p.m. The regular season’s top two teams — a combined 140-24 record last season — on opening night? Sign us up. Oklahoma City Thunder at Warriors, Nov. 3, 10:30 p.m. Does this really need an explanation? OK, it’s Durant’s first game against his former team. New York Knicks at Chicago Bulls, Nov. 4, 8 p.m. Rose and Noah’s first trip back to Chicago. Bulls at Miami Heat, Nov. 10, 8 p.m. Thirteen seasons and three championships later, Wade heads back to his old stomping grounds. Minnesota Timberwolves at Bulls, Dec. 13, 8 p.m. After a year-long vacation, Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau faces off against his old team in Chicago. Los Angeles Lakers at Philadelphia 76ers, Dec. 16, 8 p.m. In a battle that almost always makes for must-see TV, the No. 1 and No. 2 picks — Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram — go headto-head for the first time. Boston Celtics at Knicks, Dec. 25, 12 p.m. Christmas Day at Madison Square Garden. ’Nuff said. Warriors at Cavaliers, Dec. 25, 2:30 p.m. It will have been 189 days (not that anybody’s counting) since Golden State squandered a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals. The Warriors get a chance at revenge.
Dallas Mavericks at War
riors, Dec. 30, 10:30 p.m. To make room for Durant, the Warriors parted ways with Andrew Bogut and Harrison Barnes, who both ended up in Dallas. No hard feelings? Celtics at Atlanta Hawks, Jan. 13, 8 p.m. Al Horford’s first trip back to Atlanta, the place where he spent his first nine NBA seasons. Cavaliers at Warriors, Jan. 16, 8 p.m. Finals rematch 2.0. Thunder at Warriors, Jan. 18, 10:30 p.m. Again ... no explanation necessary. Hawks at Houston Rockets, Feb. 2, 8 p.m. Dwight Howard’s first trip back to Houston. Warriors at Thunder, Feb. 11, 8:30 p.m. In perhaps the most anticipated game of the season, Durant heads back to Oklahoma City to face his former team in what figures to be an extra-hostile Chesapeake Energy Arena. Warriors at Thunder, March 20, 8 p.m. And again. OTHER NOTABLES Four games in five nights and back-to-back games have been reduced to all-time lows for the second season in a row.
Four-in-fives have been reduced by 26% from last season, and back-to-backs have been cut to 16.3 per team, an 8% reduction from last season.
The season concludes April 12, and the 2017 playoffs begin April 15.
TNT will televise 10 Monday night doubleheaders, starting on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.