The NBA has released the schedules for Opening Week, Christmas Day and Martin Luther King Day, with some surprises — including a Christmas game for the Golden State Warriors.
The 2010-11 NBA season will begin with Heat/Celtics and Rockets/Lakers on TNT Tuesday, October 26. The Heat/Celtics game will feature the debut of the LeBron James/Dwyane Wade duo, while Rockets/Lakers should feature the return of Yao Ming.
The next night, ESPN makes its season debut with Bulls/Thunder and Blazers/Clippers — two matchups featuring young, up and coming teams. Blazers/Clippers should feature the NBA debut of Blake Griffin, while Bulls/Thunder pits two darkhorse contenders.
Opening Week concludes on TNT and ESPN with Wizards/Magic (the debut of #1 pick John Wall) and Suns/Jazz on October 28 and Magic/Heat and Lakers/Suns on October 29.
Moving to Christmas, the NBA will once again feature five games on the holiday. ABC will air Celtics/Magic, followed by Heat/Lakers — a line-up essentially identical to last year’s (Celtics/Magic and Cavaliers/Lakers). Meanwhile, ESPN will air the other three games: Bulls/Knicks (12 PM), Nuggets/Thunder (8 PM) and Blazers/Warriors (10:30 PM).
Martin Luther King Day will feature three games across TNT and ESPN. ESPN will air Bulls/Grizzlies at 1 PM ET, marking the first time since acquiring NBA rights in ’02 that the network has aired a Martin Luther King Day game. Meanwhile, TNT will air Magic/Celtics and Thunder/Lakers in primetime (8 and 10:30 PM, respectively).
(nba.com)
