The 2017-18 NBA season is rapidly approaching. When is Opening Night?
Hearts across the nation are all aflutter as the basketball comet nears its re-entry into our collective mind space. The NBA, however, turned into a year-round spectacle in recent years and never totally leaves the zeitgeist. Players get into the proverbial best shape of their careers, go on foreign adventures, try to solve mysteries, and speak their dreams into existence. This summer also gifted us a hero we needed, but not one we deserved in Hoodie Melo.
Aside from the extracurriculars, the upcoming season has no shortage of storylines. The offseason saw a profusion of signings and trades, shifting the sands of power around the league. After a flooding of talent to the West, the conference will be even more of a bloodbath than usual.
Jimmy Butler reunited with Coach Thibs in Minnesota, bringing leadership and hopefully an undertone of defense to a young team with lofty expectations. Paul Millsap is forming the ideal of a modern frontcourt tandem with Nikola Jokic in Denver. Paul George got shipped to Oklahoma City, giving triple-double machine, Russell Westbrook his best running mate since…well, you know. Down in Houston, Chris Paul is linking up with James Harden, as Mike D’Antoni figures out how to pair the high-usage ball-handlers together. Meanwhile, Golden State kept its championship core intact and enters as the favorite to defend its title crown.
The deal with perhaps the most furor and hubbub surrounding it was struck between the pillars of the Eastern Conference, exchanging their star point guards and dousing an already-intense budding rivalry in gasoline. It’s not often two inter-conference powerhouses do business with one another. It’s even less often still that the deal is a win for both sides.
The likely Conference Finals encounter with Kyrie Irving and Isaiah Thomas in opposite places will be appointment television. Luckily, we won’t have long to wait to cut through the palpable tension, as the Celtics and Cavaliers kick off the season in Cleveland on Tuesday, Oct. 17 at 8:00 p.m. EST.
Another marquee matchup follows, with Houston going to Golden State and tipping off at 10:30 p.m. EST. Both games will be broadcasted on TNT.
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We haven’t had an actual NBA game since June 12, but the constant buzz of player news and movement makes it feel like it was just yesterday. The stage has been set, now it’s time for the show. The curtain goes up on Oct.17.