PLEASE SEE THE LAST POST FOR MY DOLPHINS POST. HERE'S A HEAT SCHEDULE STORY:
So much for the perks of winning a second consecutive NBA championship: The Heat will not get to spend either Thanksgiving or Christmas at home.
As expected, the NBA announced Tuesday, without explanation, that it is sending Miami on the road to play the Lakers at 5:30 p.m. on Christmas in Los Angeles --- the start of a four-game road trip that also takes the Heat to Sacramento, Portland and Denver.
And Miami will spend Thanksgiving in Ohio or Canada, with a game at Cleveland the day before the holiday (Nov. 27) and a game at Toronto the day after (Nov. 29).
"The schedule I got said that we are on the road for XMas and Turkey Day," Shane Battier tweeted. "I think I received a bad copy."
The Heat will receive its championship rings at its Oct. 29 opener, against visiting Chicago. Miami then travels to Philadelphia to play Oct. 30, then goes to Brooklyn for an ESPN game on Nov. 1.
The Heat will play every Western Conference team twice and every Eastern Conference team four times except Boston, Milwaukee, Cleveland and Philadelphia. They play three games against those four teams, with the Cavaliers and 76ers making only one appearance in South Florida.
The Heat will play six of its first nine games at home and will close the season with six of its final nine at home.
The Heat has the maximum 25 national TV appearances – six on ABC, 10 on ESPN and nine on TNT.
The ABC games, besides the Christmas date, are Jan. 26 against San Antonio, Feb. 23 against Chicago, March 9 at Chicago, March 16 against Houston and April 6 against New York.
Other highlights:
### The Heat has six road games in a row on two occasions: a January trip in which Miami travels to New York and Brooklyn, then gets four days off, then goes to Washington, Philadelphia, Charlotte and Atlanta. There’s a six-game trip in February to the Clippers, Utah, Phoenix, Golden State, Dallas and Oklahoma City.
### The Heat plays 17 sets of back to back games, one more than last season. Seven of those feature two road games in a row. Like last season, the Heat will not play home games on consecutive nights.
### The Heat has two five-game homestands: Dec. 14-23 and March 31-April 8.
### This will mark the 18th time in 26 seasons that the Heat has opened at home. It also marks the 10th time that Miami has played on Christmas; the Heat is 4-0 against the Lakers that day. Over the past 10 seasons, the defending champion has played on Christmas eight times -- five at home, three on the road.
### The Heat and Dolphins don't play a home game on the same day and have no direct time conflicts. The Heat and Panthers have 10 direct conflicts. There could be conflicts between one or two Heat and UM football home games, depending on whether UM's games Nov. 9 against Virginia Tech and Nov. 23 against Virginia are scheduled as night games.
### With the Heat playing at the Knicks on Feb. 1, Heat players might try to convince Erik Spoelstra to let them stay in the New York area to attend the Feb. 2 Super Bowl. The Heat hosts Detroit Feb. 3.
### Partial season plans go on sale Aug. 19 and individual tickets on Sept. 13.
OCTOBER
Tues.29 CHICAGO 8:00 PM TNT
Wed.30 @ Philadelphia 7:00 PM SUN
NOVEMBER
1 Fri. @ Brooklyn 8:00 PM SUN/ESPN
3 Sun. WASHINGTON 6:00 PM SUN
5 Tues. @ Toronto 7:00 PM SUN
7 Thurs. L.A. CLIPPERS 7:00 PM TNT
9 Sat. BOSTON 7:30 PM SUN
12 Tues. MILWAUKEE 7:30 PM SUN
15 Fri. DALLAS 7:30 PM SUN
16 Sat. @ Charlotte 7:00 PM SUN
19 Tues. ATLANTA 7:30 PM SUN
20 Wed. @ Orlando 7:00 PM SUN
23 Sat. ORLANDO 7:30 PM SUN
25 Mon. PHOENIX 7:30 PM SUN
27 Wed. @ Cleveland 7:30 PM SUN/ESPN
29 Fri. @ Toronto 7:00 PM SUN
DECEMBER
1 Sun. CHARLOTTE 6:00 PM SUN
3 Tues. DETROIT 7:30 PM SUN
5 Thurs. @ Chicago 9:30 PM SUN/TNT
7 Sat. @ Minnesota 8:00 PM SUN
8 Sun. @ Detroit 6:00 PM SUN
10 Tues. @ Indiana 7:00 PM SUN
14 Sat. CLEVELAND 7:30 PM SUN
16 Mon. UTAH 7:30 PM SUN
18 Wed. INDIANA 7:00 PM SUN/ESPN
20 Fri. SACRAMENTO 7:30 PM SUN
23 Mon. ATLANTA 7:30 PM SUN
25 Wed. @ L.A. Lakers 5:00 PM ABC
27 Fri. @ Sacramento 10:00 PM SUN
28 Sat. @ Portland 10:00 PM SUN
30 Mon. @ Denver 9:00 PM SUN
JANUARY
2 Thurs. GOLDEN STATE 7:30 PM SUN
4 Sat. @ Orlando 7:00 PM SUN
5 Sun. TORONTO 6:00 PM SUN
7 Tues. NEW ORLEANS 7:30 PM SUN
9 Thurs. @ New York 8:00 PM TNT
10 Fri. @ Brooklyn 8:00 PM SUN/ESPN
15 Wed. @ Washington 7:00 PM SUN
17 Fri. @ Philadelphia 7:00 PM SUN
18 Sat. @ Charlotte 7:00 PM SUN
20 Mon. @ Atlanta 5:30 PM SUN
21 Tues. BOSTON 7:30 PM SUN
23 Thurs. L.A. LAKERS 8:00 PM TNT
26 Sun. SAN ANTONIO 1:00 PM ABC
29 Wed. OKLAHOMA CITY 7:00 PM SUN/ESPN
FEBRUARY
1 Sat. @ New York 8:30 PM SUN/ESPN
3 Mon. DETROIT 7:30 PM SUN
5 Wed. @ L.A. Clippers 10:30 PM SUN/ESPN
8 Sat. @ Utah 9:00 PM SUN
11 Tues. @ Phoenix 9:00 PM SUN
12 Wed. @ Golden State 10:30 PM SUN/NBA TV
18 Tues. @ Dallas 8:30 PM SUN
20 Thurs. @ Oklahoma City 8:00 PM TNT
23 Sun. CHICAGO 3:30 PM ABC
27 Thurs. NEW YORK 8:00 PM TNT
MARCH
1 Sat. ORLANDO 7:30 PM SUN
3 Mon. CHARLOTTE 7:30 PM SUN
4 Tues. @ Houston 8:00 PM SUN
6 Thurs. @ San Antonio 8:00 PM SUN/TNT
9 Sun. @ Chicago 1:00 PM ABC
10 Mon. WASHINGTON 7:30 PM SUN
12 Wed. BROOKLYN 7:00 PM SUN/ESPN
14 Fri. DENVER 7:30 PM SUN
16 Sun. HOUSTON 3:30 PM ABC
18 Tues. @ Cleveland 7:00 PM SUN
19 Wed. @ Boston 7:30 PM SUN
21 Fri. MEMPHIS 7:30 PM SUN
22 Sat. @ New Orleans 8:00 PM SUN
24 Mon. PORTLAND 7:30 PM SUN
26 Wed. @ Indiana 8:00 PM SUN/ESPN
28 Fri. @ Detroit 7:30 PM SUN
29 Sat. @ Milwaukee 8:30 PM SUN
31 Mon. TORONTO 7:30 PM SUN
APRIL
2 Wed. MILWAUKEE 7:30 PM SUN
4 Fri. MINNESOTA 7:30 PM SUN
6 Sun. NEW YORK 1:00 PM ABC
8 Tues. BROOKLYN 8:00 PM SUN/TNT
9 Wed. @ Memphis 8:00 PM SUN/ESPN
11 Fri. INDIANA 7:30 PM SUN/NBA TV
12 Sat. @ Atlanta 7:30 PM SUN
14 Mon. @ Washington 7:00 PM SUN
16 Wed. PHILADELPHIA 8:00 PM SUN
PLEASE SEE THE LAST POST FOR A DOLPHINS STORY
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