featured-image

Breaking Down the 2015-16 Schedule

The Warriors are currently enjoying the shortest offseason in franchise history. When the defending champions open the 2015-16 NBA season by hosting the New Orleans Pelicans on October 27, it will mark just 133 days since the Warriors lifted the Larry O’Brien Trophy in Cleveland and won their first championship in 40 years. With the NBA’s release of the 2015-16 schedule, we’ve provided a few observations and notes on the Warriors’ slate below:

  • Games by month: October – 3, November – 16, December – 13, January – 16, February – 10, March – 17, April – 7.
  • Games by day: Monday – 12, Tuesday – 9, Wednesday – 17, Thursday – 7, Friday – 14, Saturday – 16, Sunday – 7.
  • The Warriors have a franchise-record 25 national TV appearances on the docket for the 2015-16 season: five (5) on ABC, 10 on ESPN and 10 on TNT (Golden State appeared on national TV a total of 20 times in the 2014-15 regular season). In addition, the Warriors have a franchise-record nine (9) games scheduled on ESPN Radio and nine (9) currently slated to air on NBA TV.
  • The schedule features a league-high 20 back-to-back sets, one more than Golden State’s 19 back-to-backs in 2014-15 and the team’s most since the 2012-13 season. The back-to-backs are comprised of 11 road/road, one home/home, four home/road and four road/home contests. For the first time in franchise history, the Warriors will not play four games in five nights at any point during the season.
  • The Warriors will tip-off the season against the New Orleans Pelicans on October 27, just their second time opening the season against New Orleans (the first was a 108-103 loss in 2008-09). Since 1947, when the Philadelphia Warriors captured the inaugural BAA Championship, defending champions are 54-14 in the season opener following their title victory (Golden State is 2-1 in such games). The Warriors will look to continue that trend when they welcome their former associate head coach and current Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry.
  • The Warriors are opening at home for the 12th time in the last 14 years (the exceptions are 2014-15 and 2012-13). It is their first Tuesday opener since 2007, a 117-96 home loss to the Jazz.
  • The Warriors will face off against the Pelicans twice more in the 2015-16 campaign, including a Halloween matchup in the Crescent City. Golden State is 11-9 all-time on All Hallows’ Eve, with its last game on Halloween resulting in a 126-115 loss to the L.A. Clippers in 2013.
  • The Warriors will appear in three games in October for the first time since 2010-11 (just the second time in 30 years), traveling to Houston to play last season’s Western Conference Finals opponent on October 30. The season’s first four games come against 2015 Western Conference playoff foes, with the Halloween matchup at New Orleans and a home tilt against Memphis on November 2.
  • The NBA schedule calls for Golden State to play each Eastern Conference team twice and all Western Conference foes four times, with the exception of the following four teams this season: Houston (one home, two away), Minnesota (one home, two away), New Orleans (two home, one away) and Oklahoma City (two home, one away).
  • When the Warriors travel to play the Timberwolves on November 12, it will mark Golden State’s 100th all-time meeting with Minnesota. Of all current teams, the Warriors own their third-best record vs. the Timberwolves at 57-42 (.576).
  • The Warriors will be on the road for seven-straight games (13 days) beginning on November 30 at Utah and ending on December 12 in Milwaukee.
  • Christmas Day features an NBA Finals rematch, with Golden State hosting LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. It is the Warriors’ third-straight Christmas game and fifth in the last six years, with the team owning a 10-14 record all-time on December 25. Golden State, which has appeared in seven NBA Finals series, has posted a 16-26 record in the following season against the team it matched up with in The Finals (10-9 in seasons following a championship victory).
  • Golden State will travel to Cleveland for another holiday matchup on Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Monday, January 18). The Warriors are 14-9 all-time on the holiday celebrating Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, with an 0-2 ledger on the road (Martin Luther King Jr. Day was first observed in 1986).
  • The Warriors will play 16 games on Saturday, two more than last year, including a home contest against Oklahoma City on February 6 at 6:00 p.m. – the day before Super Bowl 50 kicks off at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. Golden State posted a 14-0 record on Saturday (12-0 wearing slate jerseys) in the 2014-15 regular season, its most wins in franchise history on any day of the week without a loss.
  • For the second consecutive season, the Warriors will only have two home games in February, with a stretch from Feb. 10-27 that begins with a game at Phoenix before 2016 All-Star Weekend in Toronto and continues with a six-game trip after the break.
  • The team’s longest stint at Oracle Arena, a six-game homestand, starts on March 7 against Orlando and concludes with a March 16 contest against the Knicks. Beginning on March 7, the Warriors will play 15 of their last 21 games at home.
  • The Warriors will travel to San Antonio for the first time this upcoming season on March 19. Golden State has lost 32-straight regular-season games at San Antonio, and the team will have two chances to break the infamous streak (its second road game against the Spurs is the penultimate game of the season on April 10).
  • Golden State will play on Easter Sunday for a second consecutive season, hosting the Philadelphia 76ers on March 27. The Warriors are 7-7 all-time (4-1 at home) on Easter Sunday, with this season’s matchup marking the team’s first Easter contest at home since 2004, a 108-107 win vs. Dallas.
  • Golden State will host the Boston Celtics on April 1, marking the return of David Lee, whose five-year career with the Warriors culminated with an NBA championship in 2014-15.
  • The Warriors’ final four games feature a home and road game apiece against Memphis and San Antonio, closing the 2015-16 season against the Grizzlies for the third time ever (but first since the team moved to Memphis). The Warriors are 1-1 in season finales against the Grizzlies, concluding their season at home for the fifth time in the last 11 seasons.