The NBA’s All-Star break isn’t close to the halfway point of a season.
Only 27 regular-season games remained when the Warriors started the supposed second half last season, meaning 67 percent of their regular season was done ahead of their eventual play-in tournament win and NBA playoff run. The regular season pie essentially can be broken down into four slices of 20 games, with one bigger piece getting an extra dash of two more games.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr always has seen it that way, especially when it comes to the first 20 games. That’s when he believes he can give an honest assessment of what his team is, and what they can become. The Warriors, this upcoming season, will face several challenges through the first 20 games.
It all begins with an ever-growing, and ever-darkening, shadow of Father Time lurking over the Warriors. If you haven’t heard, Steph Curry is 37 years old and turns 38 in March. Jimmy Butler will be 36 by the time opening night arrives, and Draymond Green will be 35. Those ages will be tested early on.
After milking every ounce of the Steph Curry vs. LeBron James rivalry to open the season, the Warriors have one day off of travel before their home opener against the Denver Nuggets on Oct. 23. And just like that, the Warriors, with an average age of 36 from their Big Three, will start their first back-to-back. They play the Portland Trail Blazers the next night, a team that shouldn’t be as much of a punching bag this season, as seen from their defense the final few months of last season, while also adding veterans like Jrue Holiday in the offseason.
Having two days off to enjoy the weekend after those two home games will be nice for the Warriors. The break then will turn to another battle of stamina in an instant. Again, the Warriors will host a back-to-back, playing the Memphis Grizzlies and LA Clippers at Chase Center. Though four of their first five games are at home, and the other being in LA, those four games are back-to-backs.
Will Curry, Butler and Green play both sides of back-to-backs? What if the Warriors do indeed sign a 39-year-old Al Horford who wasn’t playing both sides of a back-to-back in Boston?
The Warriors, after those first two back-to-backs, go one whole week before starting yet another. They’ll welcome the Phoenix Suns and then travel to Sacramento to play the Kings the next day. After a road game in Denver against the Nuggets and a home game against the Indiana Pacers, the Warriors, on Nov. 11, kick off a six-game road trip, tied for their longest of the season with a six-game slate in March that’s far from home.
The beginning of that six-game trip in November starts with a back-to-back (Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs), and also ends with one as well (Orlando Magic and Miami Heat), giving the Warriors five back-to-backs through their first 17 games.
None of the final three games of their first 20-game sample are part of a back-to-back, and all are in San Francisco.
“We’ve always spoke about there being 82-game players and 16-game players,” Green said at his exit interview press conference three months ago. “At some point, for us, we have to take a look at both because ideally, you don’t want to be from February 8th on scrapping and clawing for every win that you could possibly get. That takes a toll after a while.”
A season obviously isn’t decided after the first 20 games. There’s still three pieces of the pie to chow down. The Warriors were 12-8 through 20 games last season, tied for sixth in the Western Conference. They also were 12-3 through 15 games, lost five straight and began spiraling for months until Butler arrived.
Through 20 games last season, the Warriors played 12 road games and eight home games, including just two back-to-backs in that span compared to five this season.
This season’s first 20 games feature 11 road games and nine home games for the Warriors. How about the opponents? Here’s the full breakdown: Nuggets twice, Blazers twice, Spurs twice, Pacers twice, Los Angeles Lakers once, Grizzlies once, Clippers once, Milwaukee Bucks once, Suns once, Kings once, Thunder once, New Orleans Pelicans once, Magic once, Heat once, Utah Jazz once and the Houston Rockets once.
In total, 10 of the 16 teams the Warriors play in their first 20 games made the playoffs last season. Age, strength of schedule and the longest road trip of the season. The Warriors are staring at an exam from the start that can reveal plenty of answers about them moving forward.
The perfect ending is the first rematch of the Warriors’ first-round playoff matchup against the new-look Rockets, playing Kevin Durant and Co. in front of Dub Nation for the teams’ final NBA Cup game of Group Play on the 20th game of the season. TNT is out of the picture, but the NBA still knows drama.
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