Warriors, Cavs clash on Christmas

The Golden State Warriors will see an old friend on opening night and LeBron James and Cleveland Cavaliers in an NBA Finals rematch on Christmas Day, two of the highlight games of their title defense.

The NBA released its schedule Wednesday, a more player-friendly model that addresses commissioner Adam Silver’s directive for additional player rest by slashing the times teams have to play four times in five nights to an average of one per team.

NBA senior vice president of operations Kiki Van De Weghe called it the best schedule he had seen.