The Golden State Warriors champion will jump into action tonight as part of the opening act of the 2017-2018 NBA season when they host the Houston Rockets at Oracle Arena.
The first game of the night will feature the Cleveland Cavaliers hosting the Boston Celtics at the Quicken Loans Arena.
The Warriors led by head coach Steve Kerr did not make drastic changes to a roster that has proved to be working as a fined-oil machine and that won the title last June by defeating the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals 4-1.
The five-time champion Warriors have a dominant and experienced roster featuring Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala, among others.
The defending champions will try to win their third title in four years and earn the right to be called a dynasty, but they won’t have it easy. Before reaching the finals they will have to get past several team that improved in the Western Conference.
One of those teams are the San Antonio Spurs, who in spite of injuries to Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard, have improved by signing Rudy Gay and retaining Pau Gasol. As long as they are coached by Gregg Popovich this team is at least a contender and a threat to anyone in the West.
The Oklahoma City Thunder built their own superteam and surprised everyone by getting a brand new ‘Big Three’, after acquiring Paul George and Carmelo Anthony, from Indiana and New York, respectively. They join reigning MVP Russell Westbrook to become the latest threat to the Warriors supremacy.
The Rockets, tired of playing second fiddle to the Warriors, made an impact signing when they decided to add guard Chris Paul from the Los Angeles Clippers. He will join ranks with James Harden, Trevor Ariza, Eric Gordon and Nene Hilario. The Rockets aspire to contend for the title or at least reach the NBA Finals.
The Celtics-Cavs matchup main storyline is the impact of the Kyrie Irving – Isiah Thomas Trade. Thomas, a Celtics fan favorite for the last three years, was traded to the Cavs; while Irving was shipped to Boston because he no longer wanted to play along with LeBron James to become the focal point of the offense somewhere else.
The Cavs responded to Irving’s departure by signing Derrick Rose from the New York Knicks and Dwayne Wade from the Chicago Bulls.
The action starts tonight at 8 p.m. ET on TNT, from Quicken Loans Arena.
