Los Angeles (AP) – When the NBA starts the season on Wednesday night with the Brooklyn Nets against the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Lakers against the Los Angeles Clippers, the longest break in the NBA will end for some History – and for the others the shortest.
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The Nets and the Warriors are among the teams that did not make it into the playoffs and have therefore not played since March when the season was interrupted due to the corona pandemic. The Lakers, on the other hand, were there until the last game and won the championship. 71 days later, LeBron James and Anthony Davis have to work again together with newcomer Dennis Schröder.
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The end of last season was unique with the big anti-corona bubble and all the teams on the Disney World site in Florida – the new season is now just as unusual. Even the start date on December 22nd is a premiere, at which point some teams have already passed the first crisis at normal times. It is still unclear whether there will be an all-star game in the season shortened to 72 main round games per team. The Toronto Raptors are not playing in Canada as usual, but have moved to Tampa Bay, Florida. This is due to the entry restrictions caused by Corona on the border between Canada and the USA.
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Because everything is so unclear, the NBA has only scheduled the first half of the season – so there should be enough flexibility to incorporate and catch up on failed games in the second half. Most teams will also play their home games without spectators for a long time. So far, only three teams with a few thousand fans are planning in the hall: The Orlando Magic and the Raptors in Florida and the Utah Jazz.
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The Los Angeles Lakers as defending champions, of course. However: “We as a team expect that it will be abnormal to have the best cast,” said coach Frank Vogel. Positive corona tests ensure a mandatory break of at least twelve days, so a player quickly misses three or four games – at least. Without LeBron James or Anthony Davis, the heavily cast Lakers would suddenly not be so good anymore. Nevertheless: The Lakers are better staffed than in the championship season, also thanks to Schröder. In addition to the Miami Heat, which were inferior to the Lakers in the final series, the Dallas Mavericks with Luka Doncic, the Brooklyn Nets with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant and the Milwaukee Bucks with Giannis Antetokounmpo are also trading high.
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Dennis Schröder now plays for the Los Angeles Lakers and has the best chances on paper to become the second German after Dirk Nowitzki to win the title in the best basketball league in the world. Daniel Theis’s Boston Celtics, on the other hand, have had disappointing preparations and have to find each other first. The constellation at the Washington Wizards with the two national players Isaac Bonga and Moritz Wagner is interesting. Russell Westbrook is now quite unexpectedly a teammate of the two, who each had many minutes of playing time in preparation and should continue to improve.
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Maxi Kleber also wants to become an even more important player in the Dallas Mavericks, the performance in the friendly matches was promising. If Luka Doncic is back in the form of the playoffs and Kristaps Porzingis comes back quickly from the injury break, the Mavericks are a very dangerous team for any opponent. The Denver Nuggets have also earned a lot of respect in the bubble and in Isaiah Hartenstein a newcomer with a German passport who already played a good role in the test matches.
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