While there?s no guarantee the season will start on time?or even be played at all?the NBA will release its schedule at 2 p.m. ET Tuesday, and details are beginning to emerge.
The schedule will be unveiled on an NBA TV special that will feature Shaquille O?Neal?s debut on Turner?s NBA coverage, according to the league?s Twitter feed.
As previously reported, the defending champion Mavericks are scheduled to open their season at home on Nov. 1 against the Bulls and would play in ABC?s first nationally-televised game of the season, on Christmas Day against the Heat in a rematch of last season?s NBA Finals.
The Lakers would open their season later on Nov. 1 against the Thunder at Staples Center, according to the L.A. Times.
The ratings darlings Lakers also have a Christmas Day game scheduled, against the Bulls in L.A. They?re also slated to play the Heat in Miami on Dec. 8 and in L.A. on March 4, and would play the Mavs, who swept them out of the playoffs, on the road Dec. 15 and at home Jan. 16 and April 15, the Times reports.
Another Christmas Day game will feature the Knicks and the Celtics at Madison Square Garden, according to a tweet from Newsday?s Barbara Barker. The Knicks would open their schedule at a newly renovated Madison Square Garden Nov. 2 against the Heat, according to the New York Times
The NBA has waited until August to release its schedule the last seven years, and this is the earliest the schedule will be released since 2002, when it was announced on July 18, the Times reports. Since there is no free agency until the lockout is resolved, the league saw no need to wait to schedule certain matchups based on how rosters may look next season.
Opening night for the 2011-12 season is slated for Nov. 1, so the NBA won?t start canceling games for several months. During the 1998 lockout, the NBA did not start canceling games until Oct. 13, the Times noted.
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