Location: Oakland, CA
Arena: Oracle Arena
Time: 10:30 p.m.
Golden State Warriors
PG: Stephen Curry
SG: Klay Thompson
SF: Kevin Durant
PF: Draymond Green
C: Zaza Pachulia
San Antonio Spurs
PG: Tony Parker
SG: Danny Green
SF: Kawhi Leonard
PF: LaMarcus Aldridge
C: Pau Gasol
Key Matchup
Kevin Durant vs. Kawhi Leonard
Kevin Durant vs. Kawhi Leonard is a battle of the NBA’s best offensive and defensive small forwards. Durant led all small forwards with 28.2 points per game last season and Leonard has won two consecutive Defensive Player of the Year awards. Durant is lucky he won’t have Leonard on him all game. Since Leonard is so quick, Gregg Popovich will have him covering Stephen Curry at times to cool him down. Leonard has a lot of work on his plate tonight.
Warriors Storyline
Superteam?
The Golden State Warriors took over the 2016 NBA Offseason with the signing of superstar small forward Kevin Durant. Now the Warriors have sharp-shooter Klay Thompson as their offensive third option. With forming a super team, they lost a lot of depth. They lost Andrew Bogut, Harrison Barnes, Festus Ezeli, Leandro Barbosa and Brandon Rush via trade or free agency. Durant is more valuable than all five of those players if every Warrior stays healthy.
Spurs Storyline
No Tim Duncan
Tonight marks the first night since 1997 that Tim Duncan won’t be playing on opening night for the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs brought in Pau Gasol as his temporary replacement. Gasol looks like his Lakers-self again averaging 17.5 points and 11.4 rebounds per game his last two seasons with the Chicago Bulls. Gasol isn’t as strong defensively, but the Spurs have one of the leagues best defenders already in Kawhi Leonard. The Spurs should be okay without him this season. They went 17-4 without him last season.
