The NBA Cup could provide the Warriors with a rare schedule opportunity

Despite their current five-game losing streak and major roster questions, the Golden State Warriors are in the knockout round of the Emirates NBA Cup — and regardless of what happens in the quarterfinals, the Dubs can expect to get a rare opportunity in the next game.

Golden State will travel to Houston to take on the Rockets in their quarterfinal matchup, with that game scheduled for Wednesday, December 11 at 7 p.m. 18.30 and broadcast on TNT.

A Warriors win would send them to Las Vegas for the semifinals, where they would face the winner of Tuesday’s Mavericks-Thunder quarterfinal game on Saturday, Dec. 14 (either at 1:30 p.m. on TNT or 5:30 p.m. on ABC). The winner of the semi-finals would then advance to NBA Cup championship on Tuesday, Dec. 17 — a game that does not count toward the regular season, but would give the winning team’s players a prize of $514,971 each.

But there would be an unusual consolation prize for the Warriors if they lose in Houston next Wednesday. The league has already announced that the Dubs would get a home game on Sunday, December 15 at 5:30 p.m. if they fall to the Rockets – regardless of who loses the Dallas-Oklahoma City game.

Both the Thunder and Mavericks were already scheduled to come to the Chase Center twice this year. If the Dubs lose in Houston, the loser of Tuesday’s Thunder-Mavericks game would end up with a third visit to San Francisco. In the NBA’s typical 82-game schedule, a team visits a maximum of two cities per game. season, but the idiosyncrasies of the NBA Cup could create a third trip.

Obviously, the Warriors will win their way to Las Vegas. But if they lose in Houston, the opportunity to see former Dubs star Klay Thompson in the Bay Area for the third time this season could be a nice consolation prize for Warriors fans.