Warriors' shot at history drives ticket prices to playoff level

It's a bit of a cliche to pick out an intense regular-season NBA game and declare it had a playoff atmosphere. But it would be accurate to put that label on Tuesday night's Lakers at Warriors game -- at least when it comes to buying a ticket on the secondary market.

With the Warriors out to make history by becoming the first NBA team to start a season 16-0 -- plus with the game against the Lakers, who still carry some cachet despite their diminished state -- two ticket resale operators told For The Win that prices have skyrocketed in recent days.

"The aspects of being the first home game against the Lakers this season, it's a bobblehead night and now there's a chance to witness history have created a perfect storm in terms of demand," StubHub spokesperson Cameron Papp told FTW.

At an average of $321 on StubHub as of Monday afternoon, Tuesday's tickets were selling in the upper range of last season's first- and second-round playoff games at Oracle Arena, Papp said.

And if you waited until the last minute and tried to score a ticket Tuesday afternoon via TiqIQ, the average price was $773, the most expensive for a Warriors regular-season game in five years.

The cost shot up after the Warriors won on Sunday to set up the history-making game. The two marketplaces told FTW that prices increased 230 percent in the last four days.

Face-value tickets for Warriors games run from $42 to $600. If, months ago, somebody had bought several of those tickets for Tuesday night's game at regular price in anticipation of history and getting to resell the seats for a tidy profit, well, then name the arena after them, because that would make them an oracle, wouldn't it?

H/T: For The Win