7 Golden State Warriors Games That Could Be Turning Points in 2013-14

The NBA’s release of the Golden State Warriors’ 2013-14 regular season schedule comes months after the 2012-13 Warriors captivated the basketball landscape during their unprecedented playoff run last spring.

With last season's core players back alongside newly acquired free agent acquisitions, the Warriors are slated for a franchise-record 17 nationally televised games for the 2013-14 campaign.

In hopes of building on last season’s success, here is a look at seven games that will serve as turning points for the Warriors in 2013-14.

October 30 vs. Los Angeles Lakers

An opening night home game against the Los Angeles Lakers seems fitting for a Warriors team poised to alter the predictability of the Pacific Division standings.

The Warriors, for the first time since 2007, finished above the Lakers in the Pacific Division standings after accumulating a Western Conference sixth-best 47-35 record over the 45-37 Lakers.

Though boasting similar records, the 2012-13 season for both clubs proved that the Warriors’ future is undoubtedly brighter in comparison to the Lakers’ dim two-year outlook.

Ultimately, it seems as though the Lakers' role as Pacific Division bully is slowly diminishing to the upstart Warriors.

Come October 30, regardless of the availability of five-time champion Kobe Bryant, the Warriors should approach the contest as a statement game to let the league and the rest of the Pacific Division know they are ready to build off of last season’s success.

November 8 @ San Antonio Spurs

The team’s November 8 matchup against the San Antonio Spurs is a chance for the Warriors to exercise some demons early in the 2013-14 season.

The Warriors seemed to steal the hearts of everyone but the five-time NBA Champions who proved in the 2013 Western Conference Semifinals to be the superior ball club with timely baskets, precise offensive execution and stifling defense.

The Spurs’ performance in the 2013 playoffs reminded to the league that they are still king of the hill in the Western Conference with 2013-14 looking like more of the same for Gregg Popovich and company.

Come November 8 in San Antonio, the Warriors will be poised to learn from their past failures and come away with an important road win in the third game of an early four game road trip.

Mind you, the Warriors have not won a regular season game in the Alamo City since Feb. 14. 1997. To snap the 16-year losing streak in San Antonio against a very successful regular season team will be a true testament to how battled tested this ball club is early in the campaign.

November 14 vs. Oklahoma City Thunder

You can always expect a large following when Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook come to town.

So when the Thunder pay a visit to Oracle Arena on November 14, TNT will piggy back a nationwide following to a contest that will gauge the Warriors' position in a highly-touted Western Conference.

While bearing great significance against a conference foe, the game will allow for Warriors’ players to understand their individual roles moving forward.

Stephen Curry will look to cement his name amongst the league's elite point guards as he goes toe-to-toe with three-time All-Star Russell Westbrook.

Newly acquired defensive swingman Andre Iguodala will give Warriors’ fans a taste of his designated role as a defensive specialist in his assignment of league superstar Kevin Durant.

And while the Warriors’ new-look second unit matches up against the Thunder’s supporting cast, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and Harrison Barnes will showcase the Warriors’ superior future outlook against the Thunders young core of Jeremy Lamb, Perry Jones III and Reggie Jackson.

            

December 25 vs. Los Angeles Clippers

The Warriors’ Christmas Day showdown against the Los Angeles Clippers will prove to be the pinnacle of a cultivating Pacific Division rivalry.

After a day of nonstop NBA action, ESPN will air a highly-anticipated contest between two ball clubs vying for Western Conference supremacy.

The Warriors won 3-1 a testy 2012-13 season series against a Clippers team that Stephen Curry and company seemingly exploited with superior outside shooting and consistent low post play.

The Clippers, however, have retooled since last season with the appointment of Doc Rivers and player acquisitions of J.J. Redick, Jared Dudley and Darren Collison.

Understanding the Clippers’ lofty championship expectations, the Warriors will have this game circled on their calendar as a contest that could help propel them to a potential Pacific Division title and a game closer to a top four seed in the Western Conference.

January 2 @ Miami Heat

The team’s January 2 contest in Miami highlights a crucial seven-game east coast road trip that could lift the Warriors aspirations from playoff basketball to title contention.

It was, in fact, last year’s 97-95 win in Miami that proved to be the turning point of one of the most memorable season’s in franchise history.

The game’s lasting effect on last season gives the January 2 matchup significant meaning towards the Warriors’ development as a league-wide contender as well as proof to the basketball world that their win in Miami was not a fluke, but rather a display of how they stack up against the reigning champions.

February 20 vs. Houston Rockets

Joe Lacob and Bob Myers' inability to convince Dwight Howard to ditch Houston for the Bay Area makes the Warriors’ February 20 contest against the Houston Rockets a conference changing matchup full of playoff implications.

The second meeting of the 2013-14 season between the two ball clubs falls on the following week of the All-Star break. After concluding the first half of the season with marquee games against the Chicago Bulls and the Miami Heat, the Warriors will be looking to start the second half of the season on the right foot against a team with hopes of solidifying themselves amongst the league’s elite.

Bearing the seedings in the Western Conference, this game could give the Warrior’s a potential regular season series win while proving to be a step ahead of the Rockets in the Western Conference standings.

Moreover, should these teams face off in the playoffs, the winner of this last regular season game could carry the momentum into a potential seven game series.

March 28 vs. Memphis Grizzlies

When vying for a playoff spot towards the end of March, every game counts.

To the Warriors’ benefit, 13 of the last 20 games are slated for Oracle Arena, an ideal situation for a team jockeying for playoff position.

Mark Jackson’s ballclub is more than capable of gathering consecutive wins against lottery bound teams before the playoffs, but it’s what they do against the Memphis Grizzlies—a bolstered Western Conference contender—that will prove their worth heading into the 2014 postseason.

The Warriors have struggled mightily against the Grizzlies both at home and away after dropping the last seven games against Memphis in the last two years.

Being able to knock off a powerful Western Conference team that has had your number for consecutive seasons would be monumental for the players' psyche weeks before postseason basketball.