Mitchell Hansen
Web Editorial Associate
I don’t know if you’ve heard, but the NBA regular season is here.
Since the final horn went off on June 19 in Oakland, Calif. and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Golden State Warriors to claim their first NBA title in franchise history, there has been a void of NBA basketball semi-filled with a month of preseason basketball.
The wait is finally over.
The NBA season officially kicks off Tuesday night with three games. On Wednesday, a majority of the NBA gets the regular season underway.
Here are some games to look forward to during the two opening nights:
Minnesota Timberwolves at Memphis Grizzlies
Highlighting the first full night of NBA action is Minnesota at Memphis. This is Timberwolves.com, after all.
The Wolves, who finished the preseason with a record of 5-2, will take on the Grizzlies at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the FedExForum in Memphis. The game will be aired on Fox Sports North and WCCO 830-AM.
Minnesota and Memphis played each other once this preseason, which resulted in the Wolves coming out on top, 101-94.
This will be an interesting matchup between the Wolves, who many expect to improve this season with first-year head coach Tom Thibodeau at the helm of an exciting young team, and the Grizzlies, who look to improve on earning the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference last season.
There will be a new look to both teams due to key offseason additions like Thibodeu, Kris Dunn and Cole Aldrich in Minnesota, and head coach David Fizdale and Chandler Parsons in Memphis.
This game will be a preview of what to expect when the Grizzlies come to Minneapolis for the Wolves’ home opener at 7 p.m. Nov. 1 at the Target Center.
New York Knicks at Cleveland Cavaliers
You have to go with the defending champions, man.
LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers host the new-look New York Knicks at 5:30 p.m. on TNT on Tuesday. The Cavaliers will receive their championship rings prior to the game.
What a time to be a Cleveland sports fan right now, huh?
The Cavaliers win their first NBA title in franchise history and, on Tuesday, the Indians take on the Chicago Cubs in the first game of the MLB World Series.
The Browns … well, you can’t win them all.
The Knicks are an intriguing team this year as well. With the hiring of head coach Jeff Hornacek, along with trading for Derrick Rose and signing Joakim Noah, Courtney Lee and Brandon Jennings, it will be interesting to see how they can play alongside Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis this season.
San Antonio Spurs at Golden State Warriors
Steph Curry versus Gregg Popovich. Well, not actually, but wouldn’t that be fun?
The San Antonio Spurs will take on the Golden State Warriors at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday night in Oakland, Calif. The game will be aired on TNT following the Cavaliers and Knicks game.
Things have been pretty quiet this offseason for both the Spurs and Warriors. I mean, San Antonio only had NBA legend and future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan retire and Golden State landed one of the best players in the league in Kevin Durant in free agency.
Nothing too major.
The post-Tim Duncan era in San Antonio is among us, which is weird to think about. But the Spurs still have a ton of talent, led by Tony Parker, Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge. Plus, they added veterans Paul Gasol and David Lee to the already experienced roster.
We all thought the Warriors were fun to watch the past two seasons. Now, with a starting lineup of Curry, Klay Thompson, Durant, Draymond Green and Zaza Pachulia (or literally anybody else who would like to put a uniform on), Warriors fans should be entertained, to say the least.
These teams are two of the toughest teams in the Western Conference annually, so this should be fun to watch.
And if you don’t want to watch for the basketball on the court, at least watch for some Popp quotes.
Oklahoma City Thunder at Philadelphia 76ers
I’m not sure what I think of these two teams, yet. Both enter the 2016-17 season with similar pieces on their rosters, but different rosters at the same time.
That doesn’t really make any sense, but you get what I mean.
The Thunder and 76ers square off at 5 p.m. Wednesday in Philadelphia on ESPN.
As I mentioned earlier, Durant joined the Warriors through free agency this summer, leaving Oklahoma City after eight seasons with the Thunder.
This team is now Russell Westbrook’s team. After his performance last year, he will likely go off this season. Along with Westbrook, other pieces on this Thunder team will have to step up to fill the void of Durant’s absence.
Coming off of an NBA-worst 10-72 record last season, the 76ers drafted Ben Simmons out of LSU with the first pick in the 2016 NBA Draft.
Although Simmons will be out for the start of the season with a foot injury, Philadelphia is still an intriguing team and it will be interesting to see how Simmons' game translates to the NBA. Joel Embiid is finally healthy, as well, and had a solid preseason for the 76ers.
With a young roster, highlighted by Simmons, Embiid and Jahlil Okafor, Philadelphia should see improvement this season.
The NBA regular season is here, and there are plenty of good games to kick off the start of it.
Here’s to the start of another year. Let the games begin.