The first thing basketball fans did when the 2015-16 NBA regular season schedule was released was circle the important dates on the calendar and narrow down the list of games that they will absolutely have to see. All of the fallout from last year combined with a busy and unpredictable summer offseason has created some highly anticipated matchups that should attract big ratings. Here is a look at the four most intriguing we’re looking forward to.
Cleveland Cavaliers @ Chicago Bulls on Oct. 27, 2015
The Cleveland Cavaliers went all the way to the NBA Finals only to have their championship bid fall just short in big part because of injuries. Cleveland will have Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and Anderson Varejao all back healthy for the start of the regular season as well as a pair of veteran additions in Mo Williams and Richard Jefferson.
Fans will be looking forward to seeing a reloaded Cavaliers’ team begin a new championship pursuit. They’ll open the season in the Windy City facing one of the few teams that might challenge them in the Eastern Conference. It will be interesting to see how the Chicago Bulls measure up. They definitely have the talent to go toe-to-toe with the Cavs but they didn’t have the heart last season. We’ll see if new head coach Fred Hoiberg can recharge this team and this rivalry.
[related_post_one]
Oklahoma City Thunder @ San Antonio Spurs on Oct. 28, 2015
Speaking of getting healthy, no team will get a bigger boost from a returning body than the Thunder, which will welcome back a healthy Kevin Durant to their lineup. Durant was the league’s MVP two years ago and his return in a contract year will be met with a sense of cautious optimism for Oklahoma City. There won’t be any grace period either as Durant and company open the season at home against a reloaded Spurs team that added LaMarcus Aldridge and David West to a roster only one year removed from winning an NBA title. There is a lot of pressure on both teams to perform this season and like the first entry on this list, we could be getting a preview of the conference final.
Los Angeles Clippers @ Dallas Mavericks on Nov. 11, 2015
The biggest stories of the offseason will come full circle on Nov. 11 when Aldridge and the Spurs visit his former team in the Portland Trail Blazers but that will still only the second-most anticipated game for that night.
The biggest will be DeAndre Jordan’s arrival in Dallas where his Clippers will take on the Mavericks’ team he committed to signing with and then turned his back on in free agency. Rest assured that the Mavericks faithful in attendance will be booing the heck out of Jordan. His decision could end up being the final string in a series of events that leads to Dallas going from contender to missing the playoffs in 2015-16 and we could see exactly that on the court. The Clippers should be a significantly superior team to Dallas mostly in part to Jordan’s decision to shun the Mavericks.
Cleveland Cavaliers @ Golden State Warriors on Dec. 25, 2015
Cavaliers’ fans feel they could have won an NBA title if its roster had not been ravaged by injuries and this year’s Christmas presents could provide some validation to that idea when they match up with the defending NBA champion Warriors on Dec. 25.
Golden State managed to keep its championship roster intact highlighted by the re-signing of forward Draymond Green. As for the Cavs, they’ll use this game as a measuring stick to see if they’ve progressed enough to compete with the champs on their home floor. Obviously this is an NBA finals rematch but it could also be a preview of one to come in 2016. Add in the fact that this reunion comes on Christmas Day and it’s clear we’re in for a treat.
