NBA Releases Schedule
The NBA released its 2012-13 schedule Thursday night, and it will be a complete slate of games after 16 games were wiped out due to the lockout last year. The best part about the schedule for this upcoming season (especially for the players): no back-to-back (or in some cases, back-to-back-to-back) games. Opening night will be Tuesday, October 30th, when the Washington Wizards play the Cleveland Cavaliers. TNT will have the national schedule at 8pm, when the Boston Celtics take on the Miami Heat followed by the Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Some highlights of the new schedule:
- The Los Angeles Lakers have the most ABC game appearances with six. The NBA Champion Miami Heat have five games, including their Christmas Day NBA Finals rematch with the Oklahoma City Thunder, who also have five games. The New York Knicks also will appear in five games this season. The Los Angeles Clippers will have four games on ABC as well.
- The Heat open up their title defense against the rival Celtics at home on October 30th. It will be the first time Ray Allen will face the Celtics as a member of the Heat. Allen joined as a free agent earlier in July after five seasons in Boston. He will make his first visit to Boston January 27th.
- The Battle of New York officially begins in the NBA. The Nets are making their way into the city, and are seeking to take over, while the Knicks are out to make sure none of that happens. The Barclay's Center in Brooklyn opens up for NBA regular season action November 1st when the Knicks face off against the Nets. The teams face off three more times: (December 11th at Brooklyn, December 19th and January 21st at Madison Square Garden).
- The sensation from last season, Jeremy Lin, returns to Madison Square Garden as a member of the Houston Rockets December 17th, when the Rockets take on the Knicks.
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