The NBA has announced its Opening Night schedule for the 2017-18 season and it includes an intriguing matchup between the two best teams in the Eastern Conference last season, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics. This will be the first game of the regular season for both of the Eastern Conference powerhouses, and they both will be looking to get off to a good start. The 8 pm EST game will be viewed by NBA fans around the world and should be one of the most exciting games at the start of the new season.
The 2017-18 season will open up with an insane double header including both the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers, two teams who are scheduled to face on Christmas Day.
Starting with the Cavaliers-Celtics matchup at 8 pm EST and then followed by a contest between the Warriors and Rockets at 10:30 pm EST. It will be a star studded night featuring Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, James Harden, Kevin Love, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, Derrick Rose, and possibly Kyrie Irving, depending on how his trade situation pans out.
The East Finals rematch
As expected on opening night, two rivals will face off against each other and it should be a good contest. There will be a few changes though when comparing this game to their Eastern Conference Finals series last season. The Celtics have acquired a huge superstar talent in small forward Gordon Hayward.
They also have all-star Isaiah Thomas running the point guard position and some young pieces including Jaylen Brown, Jason Tatum, Marcus Smart along with star center Al Horford. But this star-stacked roster might not be enough to get past the best player in the world LeBron James and his boys in Cleveland.
Who will get the top seed?
Much like last season, we will likely see the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers race to the finish line with the number one seed being the goal in mind. Last season they went back and forth, trading places with that top seed for most of the season. Near the end of the season, the Cavaliers went through a significantly rough stretch and ultimately cost them a few games which led to the crowning of the Boston Celtics achieving top seeded success.
But the Cavaliers eventually proved their superiority, defeating Boston in five games in the Eastern Conference Finals that same season. So, at the end of the day, it might not matter who gets the number one seed, but it should be fun to watch them fight for it anyhow.