By: Matt Anderson

Last week, the NBA released its schedule for all the teams. Was it weird that they tried to make an event out of a schedule that covers 1,230 games played over eight months? Yes. But that does not mean I did not immediately pull up the Warriors' schedule and start the analysis. My first impression was that the schedule makers did not do this team any favors. As NBC Sports Bay Area's Dalton Johnson pointed out, the Dubs have 15 back-to-back games, the most in the league (for the second year in a row), and the fourth year in a row they've had that many.

I started my analysis with the goal of picking 3-5 games to circle on the calendar and opine as to why they might be big games. But the more I looked at it, the more the "key game" had to be framed by what was scheduled before or after. So instead of key games, I found five key stretches of the season. Without further ado, here are those stretches (listed chronologically):

1. October 24-November 14: vs. PHX, @SAC, @HOU, @NOP (B2B), vs. SAC, @OKC (NBA Cup), @CLE, @DET (B2B), @DEN, vs. CLE, vs. MIN (2x)(NBA Cup). This is an absolutely brutal opening stretch of games. We start the season in Chase against the newly formed triumvirate of KD, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beale. Then we have 7 of the next 8 on the road, with the lone home game being against last season's first round opponent, the Kings. It includes yet another second night of a back-to-back in New Orleans (I cannot remember the last time we played in New Orleans with any rest whatsoever). The Warriors play their first NBA Cup game in OCK during this stretch. We get a second road/road back-to-back, and a visit to the defending champs, the Denver Nuggets. Then the stretch ends with three games in four nights. Two of these games are against newly minted superstar Ant Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves. The second of these is our first NBA Cup home game. If this team has the same road woes as last year, this stretch could put them in a hole they can never get out of. If the Warriors do more than just survive this stretch, then the league should be on notice.
2. December 12-19: @PHX, @LAC, vs. BKN, @POR (B2B), vs. BOS. This stretch of 5 games in 8 nights comes after what could be a 10-day break for the NBA Cup (or it could come after a 5-day break, if the Dubs make the Cup Final). But this stretch includes a home/road back-to-back, 3 games against title aspirants, and it culminates in the always tough Boston Celtics coming to Chase for a Tuesday night national showcase game. This stretch will test the Warriors mettle and conditioning for sure.
3. January 12-17: @CHI, @MIL (B2B), @MEM, @UTA. Anyone working for an NBA team will tell you that back-to-backs can be managed, but it's the dreaded 4 games in 5 nights that often lead a team to a turdburger performance. Well here is a prime example of that. All 4 of these games are on the road, and none of the travel is particularly easy. Making things more difficult is a date with Giannis and the Bucks on the second night of a back-to-back and an Martin Luther King, Jr. Day game against the Grizzlies in Memphis. Also, it is important to note that the Warriors play Dallas at home on the 19th; and as anyone who has listened to Bob Fitzgerald knows, that first home game after a long road trip is often another road game.
4. February 2-8: @MEM, @ATL, @BKN, @PHI, @IND. Another tough road trip for Golden State with 5 road games in 7 nights. In theory, all of these teams will be trying to make either the playoffs or the play-in. You could argue Brooklyn and Indiana won't be, which is fair. But, Indiana is one of those bogey teams the Warriors always seem to struggle to beat, no matter how bad they are. If the Warriors perform as poorly on the road as they did last year, this stretch will determine a lot for how the remainder of the season goes. Especially since this stretch will end the same day as the trade deadline (or thereabouts).
5. March 13-April 14: @DAL, @LAL, NYK, MEM, IND, @MIN, @MIA, @ORL (B2B), @CHA, @SAS, @DAL, @HOU, UTA, @LAL, @POR, NOP (B2B), UTA. The Warriors better hope that they are not fighting to make or avoid the play-in, because the last month of the season is the most brutal stretch imaginable. Only 6 of 17 games at home during this stretch, and at least 11 of these teams could be in a seeding battle. The final two back-to-backs are in this stretch, including a road/road one against the Florida teams (also note that they again play New Orleans on the second night of a back-to-back. That is the second time this season and the seventh time since the 2021-2022 season).