NBA 2017-18 season preview: can anyone stop the Golden State Warriors?

Golden State star Steph Curry in action against Cleveland in the 2017 NBA Finals

(Image credit: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

last updated 17 October 2017

The NBA returns to the court in the early hours of tomorrow morning with LeBron James’s Cleveland Cavaliers and Steph Curry’s Golden State Warriors both in action on the opening night.

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Howard Beck, senior writer at Bleacher Report: “I’d love to go bold and contrarian here, to tell you that the Thunder/Celtics/Rockets/Cavs/Team of Your Choice will cradle the Larry O’Brien trophy next June. I would love to tell you that the NBA championship is up for grabs this season. I would love to write that. I really would. But that bleep ain’t the truth, as a certain scripture-quoting gangster once said. The Golden State Warriors are going to win the title again. And though that might be a boring prediction [and outcome], it’s also the only realistic one.”

NBA staff, Sports Illustrated: “It would be downright negligent for an NBA staff not to offer championship predictions before the start of a new season, but when you have two favourites as heavy as the Warriors and Cavaliers, the entire exercise seems pretty trivial. The 2017-18 season features two once-in-a-generation teams. Sure, there’s a handful of challengers that made intriguing moves to take a run at the crown, but barring a catastrophic injury or plot twist, we’re getting Warriors-Cavs IV. Book it.”

Andrew Sharp, Sports Illustrated: “A month ago my pick would’ve been Kawhi [Leonard, San Antonio Spurs], but his quad injury is lingering while the Rockets look poised to blitz the West for the No. 2 seed, and that’s enough to give me pause. Instead, give me Steph [Curry]. He’s the most valuable player on the best team the league has ever seen, and this shouldn’t be all that complicated.”