First Look at the 2021-2022 Warriors Season Schedule

The NBA has done a preliminary schedule release outlining a few of the major games that will come in the first half of the season, most notably Opening Night and Christmas Day. The Warriors will be involved in both affairs, playing the Los Angeles Lakers in both a play-in rematch and a possible playoff preview for the opener.

The home opener will see the franchise rival Los Angeles Clippers coming to Chase Center, and the Dubs will be facing off against long-time Warriors nemesis Chris Paul and the Phoenix Suns on Christmas Day, per The Athletic’s Anthony Slater. All three matchups are solid looks at how the team will be setting the tone early in the season, as all are against the West’s top dogs when at full strength.

The Lakers matchup, while interesting, could prove to be something inconclusive. The Warriors will not have Klay Thompson ready to go by Opening Night and therefore will be missing a major part of both the offense and defense against a different-looking team than the one that was bounced by Phoenix in last year’s playoffs. Regardless, the Steph Curry and LeBron James rivalry is one of the most storied in the modern history of the sport, so another chapter to that should be a fun watch ahead of a very interesting season.

The home opener against the Clips is another great game to see the Warriors at their starting point and what they can improve on. The resigning of Kawhi Leonard, retention of Paul George, and trade for Eric Bledsoe makes the Clippers a slashing nightmare able to collapse interior defenses better than before, with some good shooting to boot for drive-and-kicks. Bledsoe figures to be an upgrade over Patrick Beverly, bringing better offensive creation and the actual defensive clout that people think Beverly has, and was a key part of Milwaukee’s historically-good 2020-2021 team. Steph Curry’s always put on some of his best shows against the other LA team, and it figures this will continue to happen with more offensive weapons in the Warriors’ arsenal this season.

Christmas Day against the Suns should prove to be the most intriguing of the preliminary-release matchups, and might even be the highlight of the day (including the Nets-Lakers matchup which figures to be the primetime event). The long history between Chris Paul and Golden State is no secret, dating back to a heated 7-game series in 2014 that led to the franchise hiring Steve Kerr to take the reigns. Steph Curry and co.’s dominance over the Houston Rockets during Paul’s tenure there is also well-documented. This time, however, it will be rising stars Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton on his side instead of just all-world scorer James Harden, so more of a well-balanced matchup on both ends of the floor should lead to a quality basketball game. This is also important because Thompson is expected back in December, and could be in-play for this game. A complete team against the reigning Western Conference champs could open up a defining stretch of Warriors basketball heading into the New Year.

While late-season usually gives a better indication of how a team is functioning heading into the playoffs, these early-season matchups should prove to be entertaining themselves as the Dubs look to gel together and gear up for another year as contenders. It will also give those in position to take the 15th roster spot a chance to prove they belong with one of the NBA’s top franchises. According to the NBA, the full schedule will be released on Friday, August 20th.

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