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NBA Schedule: Preview announcement and season starts earlier

By Tyler Watts

NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 22: De’Aaron Fox walks on stage with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being drafted fifth overall by the Sacramento Kings during the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft at Barclays Center on June 22, 2017 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 22: De’Aaron Fox walks on stage with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being drafted fifth overall by the Sacramento Kings during the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft at Barclays Center on June 22, 2017 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /
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The NBA recently announced the nationally televised games to open the season and the Christmas Day slate. We dive into that NBA schedule preview, and the effects the earlier start date has on the season.

On Thursday, August 10, the NBA gave us a sneak peek at next season’s schedule by announcing two sets of nationally televised games.  The announcement featured the opening week’s (Tuesday-Friday) contests and the Christmas Day schedule.  Lots of exciting stuff in the release and some takeaways from it, so let us jump right into the meat of it.

Games announced

The NBA announced 13 games in total, and that was enough to get our juices flowing.  Unfortunately, none of the games feature the Sacramento Kings, but we did get some exciting matchups.

The season tips off on Tuesday, October 17 with a TNT doubleheader.  The first game is an Eastern Conference Finals rematch between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics.  The second game is the new look Houston Rockets (now featuring Chris Paul) head to Oakland to face the defending NBA Champion Golden State Warriors.  If those two games do not have you excited for opening night, then I am not sure what will do the trick.

Rest of the opening week games announced:

October 18- ESPN doubleheader

Philadelphia 76ers at Washington Wizards

Minnesota Timberwolves at San Antonio Spurs

October 19- TNT doubleheader

New York Knicks at Oklahoma City Thunder

LA Clippers at Los Angeles Lakers

October 20- ESPN doubleheader

Cleveland Cavaliers at Milwaukee Bucks

Golden State Warriors at New Orleans Pelicans

Related Story: Best NBA Free Agents still available

Christmas Day slate

The NBA continues its five game Christmas Day action this season.  Christmas Day is always special, but now you can enjoy basketball for almost 13 consecutive hours with the rest of the activities.  The 12:00 pm Eastern kickoff game this year features the young and talented Philadelphia 76ers taking on the New York Knicks.  The headlining game of the day is an NBA Finals rematch between LeBron James and his Cavaliers and the champion Warriors at 3 pm Eastern.  The rest of the slate includes the Washington Wizards at the Boston Celtics, the Houston Rockets at the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Minnesota Timberwolves visit the Los Angeles Lakers in the nightcap.  A lot of exciting players and teams featured in the Christmas Day slate, to say the least.

Season starts earlier

The big takeaway from this announcement for me was the season tip-off date of October 17.  Last season began on Thursday, October 25.  That means the season starts eight days earlier, which is good news on many fronts.  First and foremost because I want to watch the NBA as soon as possible, but more importantly it will have some significant impacts on rest of the 82 game slates for teams.  Let us take a peek at some of the effects this new calendar is having.

Effects of earlier start on the season

The season is starting sooner because the league is trying to reduce the number of back-to-backs each team faces.  Furthermore, they are hoping to eliminate the four games in five nights and any tight window of games that would cause teams to rest their star players.  A player sitting out due to rest is a big issue for the league right now, and they are trying to do everything they can to make sure the star players take the court in every game they are healthy enough to play.

It will be interesting to see what knock on effect this earlier start date has on the schedule as a whole when it is fully released.  I expect a few but will wait to comment further until I have all the facts.

Final Thoughts

There you have it, a look at the NBA’s announcement of the opening week’s nationally televised games and its Christmas Day slate.  The season is just two months away, and it will be here before we know it.  I expect the full schedule will be released later this week, so we will have plenty to talk about then including the must watch games for the Sacramento Kings in 2017-2018.  Stay tuned for that.

Next: Sacramento Kings projected starters for 2017-2018

A Royal Pain has you covered this offseason with all the Sacramento Kings content you desire.  We have a ton of draft, free agency and summer league articles up on the site.  We will now be focusing on all the information you need to get ready for upcoming season, so please check back with us frequently.  Thank you for reading.

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