The NBA has officially released the 2011-2012 66-game schedule for every NBA team. The San 
Antonio Spurs’ full schedule can be seen here at their official site. Here’s a breakdown of the 66-game schedule with important dates you’ll need to know.
The Spurs will open at home against the Memphis Grizzlies on December 26 and end in Golden State on April 26.
I’ve broken the schedule down by month, divisional teams, and marquee match-ups.
The toughest part of a shortened season is the fact that the Spurs will have to play in 17 back-to-backs and two back-to-back-to-backs. The Spurs initially come out of the gate by playing four games in five nights as they face Memphis, the Los Angeles Clippers, the Houston Rockets, and the Utah Jazz from December 26-December 31.
Month-by-month
- December-4 games, 1 back-to-back
- January-18 games, 6 back-to-backs
- February-13 games, 3 back-to-backs
- March-15 games, 2 back-to-back, 1 back-to-back-to-back
- April-16 games, 5 back-to-backs, 1 back-to-back-to-back
Just by looking at this slate, the two toughest months of the this schedule will be in January with 18 games/6 back-to-backs and April with 16 games/5 back-to-backs/1 back-to-back-to-back. The Spurs will want to hope that they can get an early lead in the Western Conference if they want to have the traditional usage of resting their players toward the end of the season. With such a heavy schedule on the legs of veteran’s like Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, the Spurs will really need contribution from the younger players as Duncan and Ginobili may be reserved on some of those back-to-back-to-backs and regular back-to-backs.
Rodeo Road Trip
The road trip will begin on February 06 in Memphis, from there, the team will travel to Philadelphia, New Jersey, Detroit, Toronto, Los Angeles (Clippers), Utah, Portland, and end on February 23 in Denver.
Divisional games
The team will face each of its divisional opponents four times.
- Dallas Mavericks-01/05 in San Antonio, 01/29 at Dallas, 03/17 at Dallas, 03/23 in San Antonio.
- Houston Rockets-12/29 at Houston, 01/11 in San Antonio, 01/21 at Houston, 02/01 in San Antonio.
- Memphis Grizzlies-12/26 in San Antonio, 01/30 at Memphis, 02/06 at Memphis, 04/12 in San Antonio.
- New Orleans Hornets-01/23 at New Orleans, 02/02 in San Antonio, 03/24 at New Orleans, 04/06 in San Antonio
Marquee Games
Miami Heat-The trio of LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh will not be making their way to San Antonio this season, but the Spurs will play in Miami on January 17.
Indiana Pacers-former guard George Hill will make his only appearance back in San Antonio as the Indiana Pacers play the Spurs on March 31.
Los Angeles Lakers-The Spurs will play the Lakers three times this season, though all three meetings will be later in the season. 04/11 in San Antonio, 04/17 in Los Angeles, 04/20 in San Antonio.
New York Knicks- the duo of Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire will be visiting the AT&T center on March 07.
Boston Celtics-the Celtics won’t be coming to San Antonio either, instead the Spurs will play in Boston on April 04.
Orlando Magic-Whether Dwight Howard is still on the team or not, the Spurs will play in Orlando on January 18 and the Magic will play in San Antonio on March 14.
Los Angeles Clippers-The Blake Griffin show will be in San Antonio twice during the season. Griffin and the Clippers will play in San Antonio on December 28, the second game of the Spurs’ season, then the Spurs will play in Los Angeles on February 18, followed by the Clippers returning to San Antonio on March 09.
Oklahoma City Thunder-Kevin Durant will only be coming to town once this season on February 02. The Spurs will play in Oklahoma City twice, January 08, and March 16.
Chicago Bulls-Derrick Rose and company will only face the Spurs once this season but the good thing for Spurs fans is that the game will be in San Antonio on February 29.
One interesting note is the national television schedule, the Spurs will only appear on national TV 14 times this season. 4 NBATV appearances, 8 ESPN appearances, 2 TNT appearances, but no ABC appearances.
Get ready Spurs fans, the season is almost here.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
