The 2019-2020 NBA Schedule is Out, and Here is What We Have to Look Forward To

Article by: Harrison Weaver

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Alright NBA Fans. We did it. We made it through a wild offseason, and the NBA landscape looks absolutely nothing like it has the past four or five years. We saw the craziest free agency of all time with numerous superstars going to new teams. You know what that means then? This upcoming season is going to be full of new rivalries, revenge games, and all new superstar combinations. The NBA just released the 2019-2020 schedule on Monday, and so we finally get a look at when we’ll get to see all these intriguing matchups. Opening Night is coming up on Tuesday night, October 22nd. So with that in mind, I’m going to highlight a lot of the fun matchups you can look forward to this upcoming NBA season.

Opening Night (October 22nd)

Opening Night we get two awesome matchups. The first is New Orleans at Toronto, in which Zion will finally be on full display for the NBA world to see and we’ll also get to see the Raptors lift their championship banner. Everyone has been waiting to see Zion in real NBA action after a minor injury to his knee in Summer League which led to the Pelicans benching him for the remainder of summer league play. It will be very intriguing to see how this young New Orleans team plays together. On the other side of the matchup, it will be our first look at the Kawhi Leonard-less Raptors and how the rest of the guys can step up to try to be a contender again this year. The other matchup on opening night is the first chapter in perhaps what is now the NBA’s best rivalry. After sharing a city and an arena since the birth of the LA Clippers, the Clippers and Lakers are finally both two of the best teams in the league at the same time. LeBron and AD versus Kawhi and Paul George will be on showcase for the first time on Opening Night, and you can expect this to be a fun one as these two teams will be battling it out all season long.

Christmas Day

I want each of you readers to imagine this (if you’re a reader who doesn’t celebrate Christmas, I apologize, but for the sake of this exercise, imagine you have the day from school or work, and you have a full day to relax with friends and family). Alright, now close your eyes and imagine. You wake up on Christmas morning, snow is falling. You’re sitting around the Christmas tree with your loved ones, exchanging gifts while you sip on some hot chocolate. You spend the morning watching your favorite classic Christmas movies and relaxing until it’s time to go about your Christmas day plans. Then all the sudden, its noon, and the best part of Christmas has finally arrived…. it’s time for tip-off between the Celtics and Raptors.

You tell your family you’re sick from drinking too much egg nog and you need to stay home, when in fact, you’ve really just been counting down the hours until you can watch Boston versus Toronto, Philly versus Milwaukee, Rockets versus Warriors, Clippers versus Lakers, and Pelicans versus Nuggets. That’s right! We get every one of those matchups on Christmas Day. For you sports bettors out there, those are a lot of almost even lines which will make for an exciting day. The Sixers versus Bucks matchup will be the first matchup between the top two teams in the East, and a likely preview of the Eastern Conference Finals. The Clippers and Lakers will be another installment in the LA rivalry. The old rivalry of the former two best teams in the West between the Rockets and Warriors will be sure to offer lots of fun offensive explosion. All-in-all NBA fans, Christmas Day will offer five excellent matchups for you tune into. 

Revenge Games

• November 27th: Lakers at Pelicans. This is the first time Anthony Davis will return to New Orleans since demanding his way out. Playing in New Orleans against a team full of young stars that the city is already falling in love with, AD is almost certain to hear lots of boos throughout the course of this game. 
• Also November 27th: Brooklyn Nets at Boston Celtics. After telling the whole city of Boston that he would be grateful for an opportunity to stay with the Celtics long-term and work to bring them a title, Kyrie ended up being nothing but drama in route to a very disappointing season for Celtics fans last season. This offseason, he signed with the Nets along with KD and DeAndre Jordan. Celtics fans will be sure to rain boo’s down on Kyrie this entire game, even though they’re more than happy to have Kemba Walker as a replacement. 
• November 23rd: Sixers versus Heat. The first time Jimmy Butler will be back in Philadelphia after leaving this offseason. After being such a huge contribution to a nice playoff run for the Sixers this past season, Jimmy Butler opted to leave for Miami. The city of Philly, notorious for being loud and boisterous when they feel a certain way about a player, will be giving Butler a piece of their mind this entire game. 
• December 11th: This isn’t their first matchup of the season; however, it will be the first time the Clippers play the Raptors in Toronto. A.K.A., Kawhi’s first game back since leaving this past offseason. I’m sure that the current Raptors players will be eager to prove that they can win without Kawhi, but I do not expect Raptors fans to boo Kawhi given that he led the team in a magical run to their first title in team history.