CLEVELAND -- If the Cavaliers are looking for an omen in their 2017-18 NBA schedule, something upon which to hang their championship hopes, it's that their home-and-home series with the Golden State Warriors falls on the same two dates as when Cleveland won the Finals two years ago.
The Cavs will indeed host the Warriors on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which is Jan. 15, according to the team's schedule released by the league Monday. That game will tip at 8 p.m. and be carried by TNT.
That will be one of 12 Cleveland contests on TNT and 37 on either TNT, ESPN, ABC, or NBATV.
* See the full Cavs schedule here in PDF format. (Note, the Nov. 5 game against Atlanta starts at 3 p.m.)
Last week, the NBA announced its national TV games for the league's first week and on Christmas. Cleveland and the Warriors play in Oakland, Calif., on Christmas Day; and the Cavs host the Boston Celtics to begin the 2017-18 season on Oct. 17.
After losing to the Warriors in the 2015 Finals, the Cavs had to trek to Oakland the following Christmas, and then hosted Golden State on MLK Day. And in June, 2016, the Cavs of course beat the Warriors in seven games for the franchise's first NBA title.
This is the third consecutive season the Cavs and Warriors will play each other on both Christmas and MLK Day, which is not surprising given their battles in the last three Finals and the fact that those two days on the calendar are among the most important for TV during the regular season.
The release of last season's schedule let Cavs fans know when and against whom the team would raise its championship banner and receive its rings, and when that trip to the White House might materialize.
This time, it's a guessing game for when they might get to boo Kyrie Irving (fair or not, you know it's coming in the event he's traded). It's anyone's guess as to where Irving may ultimately be dealt, so for now keep an eye on the Los Angeles Clippers' trip here Nov. 17; the Minnesota Timberwolves' game in Cleveland on Feb. 7; and the Phoenix Suns' date at the Q March 23.
Other notables on the schedule:
* Looking forward to that super-awkward (for Cavs fans, coaches, and players not named LeBron James) game at Staples Center against the Lakers, when the entire basketball world gets to flip out over the possibility James leaves Cleveland as a free agent again and joins the Lakers?
That game is March 11, on ESPN -- part of the Cavs' longest road trip of the season (11 days, six games).
* The last game of that season-long trip is in Chicago on St. Patrick's Day. Anyone know of any good parades around those parts?
* The Cavs' longest homestand immediately precedes their king-size roadie -- stretching from Feb. 25 to March 5 with home dates against San Antonio (Feb 25, ABC), Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Denver, and Detroit.
* The toughest portion of the schedule may well be the Christmas holidays. The Cavs play eight of nine on the road from Dec. 25 through Jan. 12, with the lone home game Jan. 2 against the Blazers. What follows is a five-game trip to Boston (ESPN), Orlando, Minnesota, Toronto, and Indiana.
* The NBA is going to great lengths to prevent what was an uncomfortable, common occurrence last season: Teams resting their best players, especially on the road and in nationally televised games.
Cleveland kept James, Irving, and Kevin Love out of the same game four different times (all losses, of course, three on the road), including an ABC Saturday night game in Los Angeles that essentially pushed the league into taking action.
* To give the players more rest during the season, games are starting a week earlier and strings of four games in five nights, and 18 games in 30 days, have been eliminated. The number of games on consecutive nights has been reduced, as has instances of five games in seven nights.
* The league also will play more games on weekends than in years past, and owners will likely approve next month punishments for teams that sit its stars who are not injured next month.
* The Cavs have 13 back-to-backs this coming season, down from 18 a year ago and below the league average of 14.4. They only have to change time zones three times for a back-to-back, compared with nine time-zone changes last season.
* Cleveland will play 14 games on days in which it has at least one day of rest and its opponent played the night before.
* Cleveland only plays two Saturday games on ABC -- which the league has held as its signature, national TV slot of the week. The Cavs open ABC's Saturday schedule with a home game against MVP Russell Westbrook, the almost-Cav Paul George, and the Oklahoma City Thunder Jan. 20; and host the Rockets on Feb. 3.
* After a road game at Oklahoma City on Feb. 13, the Cavs have eight days off for the All-Star break. The All-Star Game is Feb. 18 in Los Angeles.