Month: August 2023

2023 NBA opening night schedule to feature Lakers vs. Nuggets and Suns vs. Warriors, per report

The schedule for opening night of the 2023-24 NBA season has arrived, and will feature four of the best teams in the Western Conference on Oct. 24. The defending champion Denver Nuggets will host the Los Angeles Lakers in a Western Conference Finals rematch, while the new-look Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors square off, according to Shams Charania.

In addition, No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama is set to make his official debut for the San Antonio Spurs the following night on Oct. 25 against Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks, according to Marc Stein.

Nikola Jokic missed out on MVP last season, but he got the ultimate reward when he led the Nuggets to their first title in franchise history, and was named Finals MVP. On opening night, he will finally get his first ring, and get to see the banner raised to the rafters of Ball Arena with all of his teammates. Then, he’ll try to beat the Lakers again after sweeping them out of the playoffs last season.

Knowing Jokic, he won’t care much for the pomp and circumstance of ring night, but that will be a special moment for him, the franchise and the city. The Nuggets have been around since 1967, and have never had a player like Jokic or won a championship prior to last season. This will be a chance to celebrate that accomplishment one more time together before starting their title defense.

The other game will, in large part, center around veteran point guard Chris Paul. After three seasons with the Suns, Paul was traded to the Washington Wizards this summer in the Bradley Beal blockbuster, then later re-routed to the Warriors in exchange for Jordan Poole. This outing will double as his debut with the Warriors and first chance at getting some revenge on the Suns.

Zooming out, it will be a chance for both teams to show where they stand in the West after shorter playoff runs than they may have hoped and big offseason changes. Can the Suns make the perimeter-heavy trio of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Beal work with limited depth? And how will the Warriors, now all a year older, integrate Paul as they try to cling to contender status?

Another interesting aspect of opening night is that it does not feature a single Eastern Conference team. The defending champion is always in action, but the league usally splits the night up with one marquee game for each conference. Perhaps the uncertainty surrounding the defending East champs, the Miami Heat, is to blame. If they had already acquired Damian Lillard, it would be a no-brainer to showcase them, but that hasn’t happened yet, and the league doesn’t seem to thrilled about how that whole process is playing out. Regardless, it’s still strange there’s no East team playing.

Celtics vs. Lakers rivalry renewed; Nuggets to host Warriors, per report

The 2023 NBA Christmas Day schedule will be highlighted by the latest edition of the rivalry between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, and a meeting between the last two champions, the Denver Nuggets and Golden State Warriors, according to Shams Charania.

As per usual, there will be five marquee games running all day long. In other action, the Milwaukee Bucks will travel to Madison Square Garden to take on the New York Knicks, the Philadelphia 76ers will take on the Miami Heat and the Dallas Mavericks will meet the Phoenix Suns.

This will be the seventh consecutive season that the Celtics have played on Christmas, and the fifth time overall that they’ve played the Lakers on the day. The most recent Christmas matchup between the longtime rivals came in 2008, when the Lakers secured a 92-83 win behind 27 points, nine rebounds and five assists from the late Kobe Bryant. Of course, the Celtics ended up getting the last laugh that season, when they went on to win the Finals over the Lakers in six games; they’ll hope a repeat of that history is in store.

As for the Nuggets and Warriors, they have both been staples on the Christmas schedule in recent years — this will be the 11th consecutive appearance for the Warriors — but they have never played each other on the day. They’ve had plenty of exciting matchups since their respective cores have been together, however, and this has a good chance to be the most exciting game of the day.

As for the Bucks’ trip to New York to play the Knicks, that will be a rematch of the 2018 Christmas game, which Giannis Antetokounmpo and Co. won easily. Madison Square Garden has been good to Antetokounmpo throughout his career; he made his NBA debut there, jumped over Tim Hardaway Jr. for a dunk and hit a game-winner in 2017.

It’s interesting that the 76ers and Heat have been scheduled to play on Christmas given that both teams are currently in limbo regarding a few star players. The 76ers are trying to figure out what to do with James Harden, who has requested a trade and wants to play for the Los Angeles Clippers, while the Heat are hoping to eventually figure out a deal with the Portland Trail Blazers to acquire Damian Lillard. These two squads could look radically different come December.

You know it’s a great day of basketball when the Mavericks and Suns get mentioned last. This, of course, is a rematch of the teams’ dramatic 2022 second-round series, which the Mavericks won in seven games. It will also be the first time that they’ve ever played each other on Christmas. With Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal set to be in action, this should be a high-scoring affair.