PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland Trail Blazers will open the 2022-23 regular-season schedule on the road on Wednesday, Oct. 19 against the Sacramento Kings, the team announced. It's the second season in a row the Blazers have started the season with a game against the Kings.
The NBA released schedules for all 30 teams shortly after noon Wednesday. The Blazers aren't playing on Oct. 18, the league's opening night. Those slots are reserved for the Lakers, Warriors, 76ers and Celtics. Nor are the Blazers one of the 10 teams that will play on Christmas Day.
A new wrinkle in this season's schedule is that the NBA won't play any games on Nov. 8, the day of the midterm elections. The night before, all NBA teams will play and the NBA said it hopes the teams will use that night as an opportunity to encourage fans to get out and vote. In the past, the Blazers have used Moda Center to host voting events.
Here's a look at some interesting details from Portland's schedule:
Season opener: The Blazers will play the Kings on Oct. 19 in the team's season opener. Portland also opened the 2021-22 season against the Kings.
Home opener: The Blazers will play their home opener two nights later at Moda Center on Oct. 21 against the Suns.
Back-to-backs: The Blazers will play 14 back-to-backs (games played on consecutive nights) this season, slightly above the league average. Last season, Portland also played 14 back-to-backs.
Nationally televised games: The Blazers play just three games on national TV (ESPN and TNT) this season. Portland is scheduled to play the Grizzlies on Nov. 2 on ESPN, the Clippers on Nov. 29 on TNT and the Pelicans on March 1 on ESPN. Last season, Portland had nine scheduled national TV games.
On the road: The Blazers' longest road trip of the season is six games and they have three of them. The first is Nov. 4-12, with matchups against the Suns (twice), Heat, Hornets, Pelicans and Mavericks. The second is Dec. 14-23, with games against the Spurs, Mavericks, Rockets, Thunder (twice) and Nuggets. The third six-game road trip is from March 3-12, with games against the Hawks, Magic, Pistons, Celtics, 76ers and Pelicans. November and December are road-heavy, with 11 of 15 on the road in November and eight of 13 away from home in December. The Blazers finish with road games in four of their final five games of the regular season.
At home: The Blazers' longest home stretch of the season is six games, from Jan. 19 to Jan. 30, with games against the 76ers, Lakers, Spurs, Jazz, Raptors and Hawks. Portland plays five of its first seven games at Moda Center. January's schedule is home-heavy with 11 of 15 at Moda Center. The Blazers play five home games in a row from Feb. 6 through Feb. 14, and in March, Portland plays eight of nine at home, from March 14 through March 31.
Games against CJ McCollum and the Pelicans: The Blazers' first game against the Pelicans and former Blazers guard CJ McCollum is a road game on Thursday, Nov. 10. The Blazers and Pelicans play four games against each other, with the other three matchups all in March: March 1 at home, March 12 on the road and March 27 back at Moda Center. The Pelicans also have former Blazers forward Larry Nance Jr. on the roster.
Games against Norman Powell, Robert Covington and the Clippers: The Blazers' first game against the Clippers and former Blazers Norman Powell and Robert Covington is a home game on Nov. 29. The Blazers and Clippers play three games against each other, with the other two matchups March 19 at home and April 8 on the road.
Games against the defending champion Warriors: The Blazers' first game against the defending champion Warriors is Dec. 30 on the road. The Blazers and Warriors play four games against each other, with the other three matchups Feb. 8 at home, Feb. 28 on the road and April 9 at home, in the Blazers' final game of the regular season.
Games against LeBron James and the Lakers: The Blazers' first game against LeBron James and the Lakers is their third of the season, Oct. 23 on the road. The Blazers and Lakers play four games against each other, with the other three matchups Nov. 30 on the road, Jan. 22 at home and Feb. 13 at home.
Games against Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets: The Blazers' first game against reigning MVP Nikola Jokic and the division rival Denver Nuggets is their fourth game of the season, Oct. 24 at home. The Blazers and Nuggets play four games against each other, all before February. The other three matchups are Dec. 8 at home, Dec. 23 on the road and Jan. 17 on the road.
Games against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks: The Blazers' first game against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks is Nov. 21 on the road. The Blazers and Bucks will play two games against each other, with the other matchup Feb. 6 at home.
Games against the defending Eastern Conference champion Celtics: The Blazers' first game against the defending Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics is March 8 on the road. The Blazers and Celtics play two games against each other, with the other matchup on March 17 at home.
Holiday games: The Blazers will play on two major holidays this season. The NBA usually doesn't play on Thanksgiving or Christmas Eve. The Blazers are off on Halloween, Christmas, New Year's Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day. But they do play on Valentine's Day against the Washington Wizards and on Easter against the Golden State Warriors, in Portland's final game of the regular season.
Where can Blazers fans watch games? The Blazers signed a multi-year contract before the start of last season with Root Sports to broadcast Blazers games. The move from Comcast Sports Northwest to Root Sports put Blazers games on a satellite TV provider for the first time in more than a decade, but also removed Blazers games from most of the major streaming services, such as YouTubeTV, Hulu and Sling TV. In the year since, neither the Blazers nor Root Sports have announced partnerships with any of those streaming services, and the channel remains unavailable on Dish Network. Portland did, however, announce that Evoca TV will carry Root Sports. According to Root Sports, here are the TV providers that currently carry Root Sports Northwest in the Portland area:
Tickets: Season ticket holder presales begin Aug. 22 and single-game tickets go on sale to the public Aug. 25.
As always, the Blazers social media team had some fun with the schedule release with this video posted to social media:
