Tonight, young superstar Ja Morant and the Grizzlies travel to the Bay to face off against the Warriors as the team begins an 8-game stretch at the Chase Center. The Grizz are the first contenders, a rematch between two squads that met in the play-in game for the 8th seed last season. That game was an electric event, going to overtime after Draymond Green missed a floater to send the Dubs to the playoffs, and despite a superstar performance from Steph Curry, Morant’s play elevated the team with the better supporting cast to face the Utah Jazz in round one where they were ultimately defeated despite a valiant effort from Morant. The Grizzlies are without primary guard defender and perennial hacker Dillon Brooks, which should free up Steph and company to get their revenge.

The Warriors then face a rematch against the Thunder, who most recently erased a 26-point deficit from the LeBron-less Lakers on the second half of a back-to-back. Young Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has seemingly found his stride after a rough first few games, and brings with him the youngest team in the league. The Warriors won the second half and the game convincingly when these two squads battled it out earlier this week, but the Thunder are a sneaky team that could carve out a few crazy wins here and there.

Golden State then sees the Hornets, captained by a player they passed on in the 2020 draft in LaMelo Ball, opting instead to draft center James Wiseman with the number 2 overall pick. Some pundits were high on LaMelo while others were skeptical before draft day, but he panned out pretty well as last year’s Rookie of the Year (despite Anthony Edwards being more-deserving) and has led his team to a hot start so far.

Next up, the team faces the Pelicans (without Zion Williamson) and the Rockets (who are fully rebuilding). There isn’t much to say about these two matchups other than that they should be washes. Both long-time conference rivals that Steph Curry is a part-owner of after whooping them in the playoffs yearly, the Pelicans feature relatively no new talent, whereas the Rockets boast this year’s 2nd overall pick in Jalen Green and the player they picked Jordan Poole over a few years prior in Kevin Porter Jr. This Rockets squad will be one to watch in the future, but as of this season, they’re hardly a threat.

The last two games of the home stand are against the Timberwolves, who are still young but looking a little dangerous this season as Anthony Edwards seems to be making a leap, and the Bulls, who have completely retooled and share the title with the Warriors of “best record in their conference”. The Wolves have rarely been a winning franchise, but this game is an important one for Andrew Wiggins as he faces the franchise that assuredly gave up on him. The Bulls will be an interesting game to see A) how legit they are, and B) how the Warriors adjust after playing a few mid-tier teams.

Overall, it is possible (and even likely) that the Warriors end up 12-0 to start the season after this stretch of games at the Chase Center. They’re arguably the deepest team in the league and are led by the early-season MVP frontrunner (who’s been shooting rather poorly, lately, which assuredly will not last forever). Most indications are that the Dubs will torch most of these challengers, but it’s entirely possible that they also drop a game or two for whatever reason. Overall, as nice as an 8-0 record in this stretch would be, it’s likely going to be closer to 6-2. We’ll find out over the next two weeks.

(Photo credit: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)