Opening Night in the NBA features New York-Cleveland, Utah-Portland, and San Antonio-Golden State, which means no games between squads that both missed the playoffs last year. However, night number two of the regular season offers a double dose of drool-worthy duels between lottery clubs.
Some of the teams that failed to reach the postseason in 2015-16 will (almost) undoubtedly make the jump in 2016-17, and perhaps for a few of them it will be fairly obvious by the time November ends. Still, the first 30 days or so can be a feeling out period for all 30 teams, especially since none are employing the exact same players. Rookies get their feet wet, some sophomores, juniors, and seniors see spikes in minutes. And so on. But mainly, regular season basketball is back. The first month of contests should give us a good idea which teams that finished in the bottom-14 are likely to repeat that this year. Here are 14 nights (and 16 games) that you ought to consider focusing your attention to teams that missed the 2015-16 postseason.
10/26
Denver Nuggets vs. New Orleans Pelicans, “the rookie rodeo“
The second night of the season could be even sweeter than the first. The battle between Anthony Davis and Nikola Jokic takes center stage, but the diaper dandy debut showdown featuring Buddy Hield and Jamal Murray may steal the show. Hield might earn the start while Murray could come off the bench. Still, they’ll be toe to toe at some point in the night, and there’s no doubt in my mind that Murray will be a man on a mission thanks to some draft-day motivation from none other than Dell Demps. Wilson Chandler returns to the lineup after missing last season due to injury, Emmanuel Mudiay begins his sophomore season, Gary Harris gets a chance to show off his personal progress, and an unreal amount of new players start their careers in New Orleans.
Phoenix Suns vs. Sacramento Kings, “the Chrissening of Marquese and Baptism of Bender”
While Murray gets to debut against a team that passed on him for another guard, Marquese Chriss gets a shot to face the team that dealt him on draft night. Chriss probably won’t see as much time as the aforementioned rooks, but it will be interesting to see how many fouls he can rack up as a reserve. What will the Suns backcourt rotation look like as far as minutes go? Does Devin Booker spend substantial time at small forward? How much do rookies Dragan Bender and Chriss play? Dave Joerger makes his coaching debut in a new stadium for Sacramento, and Cousins looks to destroy the souls of Alex Len and Tyson Chandler.
10/28
Los Angeles Lakers vs. Utah Jazz, “smooth Jazz in Salt Lake”
Luke Walton’s Lakers make their lone appearance on this list for the first month, and they do so against the Jazz. If you aren’t amped up for Utah in 2016-17, I’m not sure we can hold a civil conversation. The sheer depth of talent and plethora of possible lineups that exist is unmatched across the entire NBA. This is why I believe Utah seems like they could be Golden State’s biggest threat in the West—at least this year. L.A. will likely become more watchable (and better overall) as the season progresses under Walton with a fresh group of free agents and unleashed youngsters, but there could be some early struggles.
10/29
Sacramento Kings vs. Minnesota Timberwolves, “Weekend Special”
Enjoy some DeMarcus Cousins versus Karl-Anthony Towns for the first Saturday of the NBA regular season.
11/1
Milwaukee Bucks vs. New Orleans Pelicans, “Extraterrestrial Tuesday”
Giannis Antetokounmpo and Anthony Davis square off as two of the world’s most athletic specimens go toe-to-toe. Both teams took the league by storm in making the playoffs back in 2014-15 before falling back into the lottery this past season.
11/3
Denver Nuggets vs. Minnesota Timberwolves, “Sophomore showdown”
After Utah, Denver and Minnesota are two of the more popular upside picks to sneak into the playoffs out West. There are intriguing matchups at every position, and it shouldn’t be a surprise if these two teams are fighting for one of the final spots in the postseason when April rolls around.
11/4
New York Knicks vs. Chicago Bulls, “Party and Bullshit”
It only makes sense that the Bulls’ lone appearance on this list comes against New York–with Joakim Noah (and maybe Derrick Rose) returning to Chicago.
11/5
Washington Wizards vs. Orlando Magic, “frontcourt festivities”
Several former Magic big men make their way back as Wizards in Jason Smith and Andrew Nicholson. Both of these squads have more than enough depth at the 4 and 5, but could be lacking at the 3 spot–and in terms of spacing. What kind of rotations will Scott Brooks and Frank Vogel be rolling out?
11/8
New Orleans Pelicans vs. Sacramento Kings, “B&B Enterprises”
Brow against Boogie meets the standard for must-see hoops: two bigs dribbling, driving, and shooting like guards, both of whom have to play at extremely high levels in order for their teams to make playoff pushes and for themselves to receive All-NBA considerations in a healthy league exploding with talent at every position.
11/9
Brooklyn Nets vs. New York Knicks, “Battle of the boroughs”
Jeremy Lin wanted the chance to prove himself as a starting point guard again, and now he has it. He returns to the place where his NBA career took off for an early-season battle between boroughs. Meanwhile, watching Rondae Hollis-Jefferson work on defense against Carmelo Anthony should be fun.
11/17
Philadelphia 76ers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves, “Shirley Temples and Kit-KATS”
Prior to Ben Simmons’ injury, I had the Sixers’ home showdown against the Jazz included. However, without the Australian connection going between Simmons and Exum, it got the boot. For the record, I think the 76ers will be much better this season and I’m as amped as anyone to see Joel Embiid play in the NBA. And so, it’s pretty obvious where this is headed, as Embiid-KAT makes this must-watch material.
11/20
Utah Jazz vs. Denver Nuggets, “Mountaintop matchup”
This is two of the deepest teams in the league, and for me it’s always interesting to watch two teams who play somewhat contrasting styles. The Nuggets will be trying to turn this into a transition game while Utah seems set in its slower-paced ways. The Broncos are on bye that week too, so the Pepsi Center could be packed out on a day normally devoted to football in Denver.
11/23
Minnesota Timberwolves vs. New Orleans Pelicans, “who is the Smoothie King Center?”
KAT versus A.D. promises to soothe the soul and leave viewers satiated. Then there’s the rookie duel with Hield and Kris Dunn. Ooh la la.
11/28
Utah Jazz vs. Minnesota Timberwolves, “the fight between future challengers to the throne”
These two teams have as much long-term upside as any, and the Wolves will look to learn something from Utah’s stingy defense.
11/30
Sacramento Kings vs. Philadelphia 76ers, “Sauce Castillo”
A potential pick swap is looming, though without Simmons it’s unlikely that the Sixers win more games than the Kings this year. Still, Cousins-Embiid has the chance to be a sensational matchup that shakes social media.
New York Knicks vs. Minnesota Timberwolves, “Unicorns R Us”
Sophomore Kristaps Porzingis probably won’t be covering KAT or vice-versa often, but I’ll take what I can get.
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