NBA Opening Week: Five non-76er East games that will determine the conference’s future

Because the first week of the season holds all the answers.

After an offseason of patriotism spurred on by the Olympics, the US basketball fandom is all set to hate each other again in under a week. The NBA season returns on Tuesday night and the Philadelphia 76ers have high hopes for the season and a roster to inspire that hope. Unfortunately, a lot of other teams can say the same. And the ones that can’t, can argue their future is bright.

As the regular season moves on, contenders will emerge from the pretenders, and each team will have their narrative. Opening week can give us the slightest of hints as to the storylines that the scriptwriters have in place. Below I’ve listed five games that should foreshadow the fates of Philly’s foes in the Eastern Conference. And it’s definitely not too early for such predictions.

Knicks vs Celtics (Oct. 22)
I mean, obviously. It’s the first game of the season so why wouldn’t an NBA fan watch it? Beyond that, it’s our first look at the new New York Knicks roster and a gauge of how determined the Celtics look after a summer where their star players left feeling disrespected despite winning the NBA championship.

The wing matchups will be ferocious as OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges attempt to shut down Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. No Kristaps Porzingis means Karl Anthony-Towns will immediately be a go-to Knick, especially with Derrick White and Jrue Holiday defending Jalen Brunson. KAT never looked great under the bright lights in Minnesota, will that change in his new uniform?

Hornets vs Hawks (Oct. 25)
Which of these projected bottom-six teams looks ready to shut the doubters up? Charlotte has a new coach, Charles Lee, who is looking to implement anything into a promising roster. LaMelo needs to play a slightly more serious form of basketball and stay healthy for a whole season, and his sophomore teammate Brandon Miller has all the tools to become one of the East’s more threatening wings.

Meanwhile, Atlanta has retooled around Trae Young with a frisky, quick, and young roster. Zacharie Risacher is the least-hyped No. 1 overall pick in quite some time, but he and Jalen Johnson are a tall, athletic, and versatile scoring forward duo. Dyson Daniels has all-defense potential and may be a better fit next to Young than Dejounte Murray was.

It will be far, far too early to take much from, but this matchup should (might?) tell us a little about the bottom of the East play-in picture.

Bulls vs Bucks (Oct. 25)
Is the Bulls’ vision worth looking at? Josh Giddey has shown flashes of being a plus on-ball creator and offensive hub. What does Lonzo Ball look like after an absence surpassing three years? How do those two fit with an emerging Coby White? Is this more than just a roster full of intriguing but limited young(er) players? Obviously, or hopefully, this isn’t the Bulls’ end-game roster, but this season should be used to find out who is a part of it. Also, If Zach Lavine can return to close to All-Star form, the Bulls could get a future-brightening trade package for him. That’s if their front office suddenly understands what that is.

And the Bucks need to be dominant early this season if they want to free themselves of question marks and tensions. Last season they never got over their rocky start, traumatizing them to the point of a Doc Rivers hire. Suppose that right away Giannis is at his game-breaking best defensively and indomitable peak offensively, with a Damian Lillard set on changing the league’s timezone to his. Questions would disappear and the top of the East becomes much more cramped.

This will be a good look at whether their supporting cast can be classified as ‘veterans’ or just ‘old’. Brook Lopez is 36 and will drop in quality any season now. Khris Middleton had two ankle surgeries in the past three months. Only genuinely troubled people bet the over on any Gary Trent Jr, Taurean Prince, and Pat Connaughton stat.

But their IQ and experience are valuable, and they could all mesh and fit well around Giannis. They’ll never be more spry than the first week of the season. If it looks bad now, it’s just a three-team race in the East. If they look good, homecourt in the second round may be a tough ask for a resting Sixers team.

Pacers vs Magic (Oct. 28)
Indiana and Orlando are teams looking to break through to the East’s upper echelon. To upset the conference’s projected order, they’ll at least have to win the season series against the teams on their level (Cleveland and maybe Miami).

Both teams should know this and all of their matchups will likely have a playoff feel. Plus, they have polar opposite playing styles and that is always fun. Last season, Orlando was top three in defensive rating and bottom 10 in offensive rating whereas Indiana was top three in offensive rating and bottom 10 in defensive rating.

Sprinkle the emerging star power of Paolo Banchero and Tyrese Haliburton and you have a matchup that may be shifting the East for the rest of the decade.

Pistons vs Heat (Oct. 28)
Yes, I’m recommending you watch Tobias Harris. He should start for a Detroit Pistons squad desperate to be slightly competitive. He and some veteran shooters will be surrounding the intriguing Cade Cunningham. With this newfound spacing, will the former No. 1 overall pick look like a potential Eastern All-Star: does he have it in him to upset the conference’s hierarchy? Detroit has a lot of alluring young pieces that could become major players in the conference (not this year, but before the decade is done).

And the Heat are the Heat. The conference will shake if Jimmy Butler looks engaged from the start of the regular season. If he doesn’t, expect team president Pat Riley to shop the star-forward before the trade deadline. Riley was not happy with Jimmy chirping from the sidelines last playoffs and will want to get some value for an All-NBA caliber player on the final year of his deal. What better way to test how much a player cares than a regular season game against Detroit?

Honorable mentions
I’m also going to be interested in the Celtics vs. Bucks matchup on Oct. 28th — that’ll be the Bucks’ first second leg of a back-to-back. It’ll be interesting to see who plays and how well they play. And how will the Celtics defend Giannis without Porzingis?

And Knicks vs. Cavs on Oct. 28th (shaping up to be a massive Monday night) will gauge Cleveland’s place in all this, and how KAT fares against an impressive defensive frontline.

Opening week optimism is a hell of a drug. Hopefully, these games can ween off addicted fanbases who may be indulging too much. Not us Philadelphia fans, of course, we are justified in our championship beliefs.