The kinder, gentler NBA schedule is out.
First, here’s the stuff you want.
Opening Night is Tuesday, Oct. 27 and has a TNT doubleheader with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers visiting the Chicago Bulls and the New Orleans Pelicans visiting MVP Stephen Curry and the defending champion Golden State Warriors, who will be handing out rings and hoisting their title banner. Both are rematches of playoff showdowns.
The following night, it’s ESPN’s turn with Kevin Durant returning for the Oklahoma City Thunder as they host the San Antonio Spurs and the Minnesota Timberwolves visiting the Los Angeles Lakers. The nightcap should feature the return of Kobe Bryant and a matchup of the top two picks in the draft, Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell.
TNT jumps back in Thursday with Atlanta-New York and Dallas-LA Clippers. On Friday, ESPN has Cleveland hosting Miami and Golden State visiting Houston in a rematch of the Western Conference finals.
The five Christmas games are New Orleans-Miami at noon ET on ESPN; Chicago-Oklahoma City at 2:30 p.m. and Cleveland-Golden State at 5 p.m., both on ABC; and San Antonio-Houston at 8 p.m. and Clippers-Lakers at 10:30 p.m., both on ESPN.
The Clippers visit Golden State on Nov. 4 on ESPN and host the Warriors on Nov. 19 on TNT. Over the last several years, this has been the NBA’s best rivalry by far.
Nov. 11 is an awesome day for returns as LaMarcus Aldridge goes back to Portland with San Antonio and DeAndre Jordan and the Clippers visit Dallas. Both games are on ESPN.
The Spurs and Clippers, who played an epic first-round series in the postseason, meet for the first time on Dec. 18 in San Antonio on ESPN.
After hosting Cleveland on Christmas, the Warriors visit the Cavs on Jan. 18 on TNT as part of Martin Luther King Day.
The Kings and Nuggets, who have been swapping players, coaches and executives for the last two years, don’t meet until Feb. 19 in Sacramento, their first game after the All-Star break.
Reggie Jackson goes back to Oklahoma City on Nov. 15. Greg Monroe returns to Detroit on Dec. 4. Deron Williams goes back to Brooklyn on Dec. 23. And Goran Dragic returns to Phoenix on Jan. 8.
In terms of calendar length and game days, the NBA schedule is no different than it was last season. The season runs 170 days from Oct. 27 to April 13, just as it did last season. There is a six-day All-Star break and three other days off, just like last season.
But the release from the NBA says that back-to-back games are at an all-time low of 17.8 per team, down from 19.3 per team last season. So are instances of four games in five nights. According to the league, there are just 27 of those – or less than one per team – compared to 70 last season.
So how did the league make the schedule less demanding and reduce the number of back-to-back games and stretches of four games in five nights? By moving more games to Thursdays and Sundays.
Historically, the NBA has given TNT virtual exclusivity on Thursday nights, only infrequently scheduling 
games not televised by the network. But a handful of Thursdays have as many as six games – including TNT’s twinbill – and Thursday, March 17 has eight games, although TNT is not televising the NBA that night because it is airing the NCAA Tournament.
More Thursday games helps in two ways. It spreads out the schedule a bit more, reducing the number of back-to-backs and four games in five nights. It also may allow TNT to dump out of a bad game and switch to a good one, either in progress or in advance.
No sport likes going against the ratings monster of the NFL, and the NBA is no exception. Traditionally, the NBA schedule is heavy on Saturdays and light on Sundays during the NFL season and light on Saturdays and heavy on Sundays after the Super Bowl. However, there appear to be a few more NBA games on NFL Sundays than in the past.
Saturdays also remain somewhat heavy throughout the season, perhaps to accommodate ABC’s new Saturday night schedule. The first of these games is Chicago at Cleveland on Jan. 23. Overall, the weekend days look less tilted than in past years.
Including Saturdays and Sundays, ABC is televising 16 games but just nine teams will appear – Cleveland (6), Chicago (5), Golden State (5), Oklahoma City (5), LA Clippers (4), San Antonio (3), Houston (2), Miami (1) and LA Lakers (1).
Despite the increase in national TV games, three teams – Denver, Detroit and Philadelphia – do not appear at all on either ABC, ESPN or TNT. And Charlotte and Orlando make one appearance each – against each other on ESPN on April 13, the season’s final day.
To illustrate the change in the schedule, we randomly selected four teams – one from each time zone – and compared their schedules from last season to this season. All of them are playing slightly less demanding schedules.
Last season, the Cavs had 20 back-to-backs and three four-in fives. This season, they have 19 and one.
The Thunder had 18 back-to-backs and no four-in-fives (but two five-in-sevens). This season, they have 15 and one.
The Utah Jazz had 19 back-to-backs and one four-in-five. This season, they have 16 and one.
The Warriors had 19 back-to-backs and one four-in-five. This season, they have 19 and none.
Dramatic? No. But the only way to significantly reduce the number of back-to-backs and four-in-fives would be to start the season in mid-October. However, “all-time low” has a nice ring to it. This is certainly a start and makes for better basketball from the players and for the fans.
Basketball is one of the most popular game in the world, American football is only accepted in a few countries besides the US, it’s regarded as a stupid physical game without much intelligence, they can’t even name it correctly, they only kick once in each offense, and they name it – football. Soccer is the real football