It wasn’t way back that the Warriors have been basking within the California solar with the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy as they paraded down Market Road for an additional celebratory parade.
However after a couple of months to recuperate and calm down, the NBA season is shortly approaching and a tell-tale signal got here Wednesday when the league formally launched its 2022-23 regular-season schedule.
The Warriors will likely be lacking a number of faces from final season’s championship-winning crew, together with Gary Payton II and Otto Porter Jr. Nonetheless, the Warriors are among the many favorites to win all of it once more this season.
There will likely be loads of issues for Warriors followers to stay up for on this upcoming season, together with the presumed return of James Wiseman and the continual growth of the following era of Warriors gamers that features Jordan Poole, Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody.
Listed below are 5 issues to know in regards to the Warriors’ schedule:
1. Early season outlook
The Warriors dominated out of the gates final season, boasting an 18-3 file by the tip of November. They achieved that feat with out Klay Thompson, who didn’t make his return from a 2 1/2 yr absence till January, and Wiseman, who missed all of final season due to knee issues.
This fall, each these gamers are anticipated to be prepared in the beginning of the season.
After a fast journey to Japan for 2 exhibition video games earlier than coming again to San Francisco, the place they’ll host three preseason video games, the Warriors start their title protection Oct. 18 towards LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers at Chase Heart — however not earlier than they’ll relish of their 2022 title another time with a celebratory ring and banner ceremony earlier than the sport.
This sport will likely be a repeat of final yr’s season opener when Golden State shut down the Lakers, 121-114.
Three days later, the Warriors, who play 4 of their first 5 video games at house, will host the Denver Nuggets, whom they beat within the first-round of the playoffs.
The primary two months of the Warriors’ schedule is a combined bag of opponents. Eleven of the primary 22 video games are towards groups who have been within the final season’s play-in match or playoffs. The Phoenix Suns and Miami Warmth, the highest seeds within the playoffs of their respective conferences, will every play the Warriors twice earlier than Thanksgiving
Golden State will play the Mike Brown-led Sacramento Kings 3 times by the tip of November.
2. Variety of back-to-backs
For the third consecutive season, the Warriors have 15 units of back-to-backs, together with three home-home matchups (Dec. 2-3, Dec. 27-28 and March 2-3.) One differencefrom final season is that a quarter of these pairings gained’t come within the last month of the season.
The Warriors had 4 back-to-backs within the last three weeks of final season. Golden State has only one in that span this season, with the Warriors taking part in at Atlanta and Memphis on April 17 and 18, respectively. Golden State additionally has one back-to-back in March when it hosts the Los Angeles Clippers and New Orleans Pelicans on the 2nd and third.
Nonetheless, the final seven weeks will present a problem for the Warriors, who stumbled late final season after Stephen Curry went down with a foot harm.
Fourteen of the Warriors’ final 22 video games are towards groups who both made the play-in match or playoffs final season. They’ll play the Grizzlies, their hardest matchup in final yr’s playoffs, twice on the street in March, together with as soon as on the back-end of a back-to-back.
3. Playoff rematches
Presumably probably the most anticipated sport on the Warriors’ schedule is their marquee Christmas Day matchup towards the Grizzlies. The rematch of the Western Convention semifinals, which included loads of trash speak, ejections and drama, had been one thing Ja Morant and Draymond Inexperienced have been pushing for because the Warriors beat the Grizzlies in six video games.
The Warriors play the Grizzlies 4 instances whole. After the vacation battle at Chase Heart, the Warriors hots the Grizzlies once more Jan. 25 earlier than taking part in in Memphis March 9 and 18.
Different playoff rematches to search for:
First-round rematch towards Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets:
– Oct. 18 at Chase Heart
– Feb. 2 and April 2 in Denver
Western Convention finals rematch towards Luka Dončić and the Dallas Mavericks:
– Nov. 29 and March 22 in Dallas
– Feb. 4 at Chase Heart
NBA Finals rematch towards Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics:
– Dec. 10 at Chase Heart
– Jan. 19 in Boston
4. Longest homestand and journey
One of many longest journeys of final season got here towards the tail-end of the yr when the Warriors went to 5 cities in seven days. It was a street journey that Golden State wish to neglect. With out Curry, the Warriors unraveled and went 1-4.
Golden State had solely two five-game journeys final season, however this time round, the crew may have 4.
Golden State’s longest journey this season will come Dec. 13-21 when the crew embarks on a nine-day journey throughout six cities that features stops in Milwaukee, Indiana, Toronto, Philadelphia and New York. Their different five-game journeys will happen Oct. 29-Nov. 4, Jan. 13-20 and March 15-22.
In the meantime, the Warriors’ longest homestand, an eight-game stretch from Dec. 25-Jan. 10, matches the longest homestand in franchise historical past, tying the mark from final season and in 2010-11. Throughout that span, the Warriors will host the Grizzlies, Charlotte Hornets, Utah Jazz, Portland Path Blazers, Atlanta Hawks, Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic and Suns.
5. Broadcast schedule
The Warriors will make 30 nationwide TV appearances on ABC, ESPN and TNT, beginning with their season opener towards the Lakers on TNT. Their 2022 NBA Finals rematch towards the Celtics Dec. 10 and marquee Christmas Day matchup towards the Grizzlies will likely be televised on ABC.
In whole, six of the Warriors’ video games are scheduled for ABC. They’ll have one other 12 on TNT and 12 on ESPN.
Extra data on the Warriors’ broadcast schedule may be discovered right here.
Cheat Sheet: Key dates to know
Sept. 24 — Coaching Camp Opens
Sept. 30/Oct. 1 — NBA Japan Video games: Warriors versus Wizards in Tokyo
Oct. 18 — NBA Opening Night time: Warriors vs. Lakers at Chase Heart
Feb. 19 — All-Star Recreation in Salt Lake Metropolis, Utah
April 9 — Finish of normal season: Warriors’ season finale in Portland