Wednesday afternoon, the NBA released the schedules of all 30 teams, including the Portland Trail Blazers. Anticipation had been growing, as the schedules are usually released earlier than the middle of August.
Opening night for the NBA is Tuesday, October 28th; however the Blazers don’t open until the 29th, when they host the Oklahoma City Thunder. That will be a great matchup to start the season. The recent games between the two division rivals have been very tightly contested affairs.
The going is tough to open the season as the Blazers’ first six games are against the likes of Oklahoma City, Sacramento, Golden State, Cleveland, Dallas, and the L.A. Clippers. The saving grace may be that four of those six games will be played in the friendly confines of the Moda Center.
Teams in the NBA typically prefer not to be on the road for long, drawn out road trips. The Blazers will have two 5-game road trips, but will not be on the road over Christmas or New Year’s. The news of the two 5-game road trips is made a little better when you find out the Blazers have a 7-game home stand that spans from December 24th-January 10th.
The Blazers will be on national television 16 times (10 ESPN and 6 TNT), and the rest of their games will be televised locally on KGW or Comcast SportsNet.
One of the biggest scheduling changes this year is the length of the All-Star break. The Blazers are off 8 days in the middle of February for the newly extended All-Star break. Adam Silver set that as point of emphasis to give the All-Stars ample time to rest just as the rest of the NBA gets every February.
Overall, there really is no way to take much from a schedule release. I am not one that thinks that certain schedules set up a team for a deep playoff run or dooms them from the start. I do think you can take a few things from the schedule, not nothing earth-shattering.
The three games I am most looking forward to seeing in the Moda Center this year are:
November 4th vs. Cleveland – LeBron James is home and back in the #23 jersey. James has a tendency of playing out of his mind in Portland. Last year “King James” was unable to play in the Heat’s lone game in the Rose City. James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and company head into the season with mile-high expectations and get to visit Rip City within a week of the opener.
December 15th vs. San Antonio – Tim Duncan and the reigning NBA champs come into Portland a month and a half into the season. The Blazers first matchup of the season against the team that put them out of the playoffs is bound to be a can’t miss game.
March 11th vs. Houston – Damian Lillard vs. Patrick Beverly. LaMarcus Aldridge vs. Dwight Howard. Wesley Matthews vs. James Harden. After a total of 10 matchups last season, it’s easy to say that these two teams really don’t like each other. Any time these teams meet, there’s bound to be some fireworks. What makes this game a must-see for any Blazer fan is that March 11th is the only time that Houston visits Portland this season.
Trail Blazers’ communications department released a simple breakdown of the season that shows home vs. road, length of road-trips and homestands, and back-to-backs.
HOME GAMES BY MONTH
October………………………….. 1
November…………………….. 10
December……………………….. 6
January…………………………… 8
February…………………………. 6
March…………………………….. 6
April………………………………. 4
HOMESTANDS
1 Game…………………………… 8
2 Games…………………………. 7
3 Games…………………………. 4
7 Games…………………………. 1
TOTAL……………………….. 20
AWAY GAMES BY MONTH
October………………………….. 1
November………………………. 5
December……………………… 10
January…………………………… 8
February…………………………. 3
March…………………………… 10
April………………………………. 4
ROAD TRIPS
1 Game…………………………. 12
2 Games…………………………. 4
3 Games…………………………. 1
4 Games…………………………. 2
5 Games…………………………. 2
TOTAL……………………….. 21
HOME GAMES BY DAY
Sunday……………………… 5
Monday…………………….. 5
Tuesday…………………….. 5
Wednesday………………… 8
Thursday…………………… 6
Friday……………………….. 5
Saturday……………………. 7
BACK-TO-BACKS
Road-Road………………. 10
Home-Home……………… 0
Road-Home……………….. 5
Home-Road……………….. 4
TOTAL………………….. 19
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