More than half the league makes the playoffs. The Heat weren't in the playoffs last year. Sure a nice blowout against Detroit or the Lakers would be a nice easy way to start out but all in all, I expected to have the Cavs be a premier road opener for a few other teams, which seems to be the case for Chi and Mem.
After the taste of playoffs basketball together, I wonder how these first two games are played. Often the first few games of the year can have a higher intensity than most of the rest of the early regular season, especially if between two contenders or rivals. For the Bulls fans, this is a huge game for people to overreact to. If they beat us or look good in a close loss, it'll all be about how different Hoiberg is, how Thibs was holding them back, and how they can beat the Cavs in the playoffs this year. If they get blown out or lose by 10+, they'll be saying "we're screwed and we'll never get over the hump(LeBron/Cavs) + more comments of Rose and Butler needing to be split up.