OAKLAND – Upon release of the NBA schedule, every contender identifies a few games that have special significance, generally in the way they provide self-measurement.
One such game surely noted by the Warriors and Cavaliers occurs Christmas Day at Oracle Arena, where the teams meet for the first time since the NBA Finals in June.
When the Warriors (27-1) won that series in six games, LeBron James and the Cavaliers (19-7) immediately realized the road to a championship might have to go through Oakland.
Though the game is billed as an NBA Finals rematch, Cleveland in June had star guard Kyrie Irving for only one game and didn’t have star forward Kevin Love at all.