NBA Releases 2012-13 Regular Season Schedule

The League unveiled the full 82-game regular season schedule tonight, and NBA.com has a rundown of some of the key games (such as the Christmas matchups: Boston vs Brooklyn – Knicks vs Lakers – Thunder vs Heat – Rockets vs Bulls – Nuggets vs Clippers): “LeBron James will get his ring and the Miami Heat will raise their second championship banner on Tuesday, Oct. 30, on TNT. Then, they’ll open the 2012-13 season by hosting the Boston Celtics, the team that had them down 3-2 in the conference semifinals this past June. This was already a fierce rivalry, and it will only get more interesting with Ray Allen‘s defection to South Beach. After Celtics-Heat, Dirk Nowitzki and the new-look Dallas Mavericks will visit best buddy Steve Nash and the Los Angeles Lakers, our first chance to see how Kobe Bryant‘s game is affected by Nash’s point guard skills. So TNT’s opening night double-header will include the four teams who’ve won the last five NBA championships. […] No. 1 pick Anthony Davis will face Tim Duncan, while Jonas Valanciunas will make his long-awaited NBA debut against All-Star Roy Hibbert. No. 5 pick Thomas Robinson visits Carlos Boozer and the Bulls, and Summer League MVP Damian Lillard hosts Nash and the Lakers. Thursday, Nov. 1, brings another big debut, that of the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. And what better way to christen the building than with a visit from the team from the other side of the bridge. Knicks-Nets has a chance to become a real rivalry now, and appropriately, the two teams tip off their 2012-13 season against each other on TNT. That game will be followed by a Western Conference Finals rematch, Thunder and Spurs in San Antonio. ESPN gets into the action on Friday, Nov. 2, with another great double-header. First, the Heat visit New York to meet Melo and the Knicks. Then we get the latest edition of a bitter rivalry between the Clippers and Lakers. Martin Luther King Day brings us some more afternoon basketball and a solid trio of inter-conference games on national TV. First, we get the Pacers and Grizzlies from Memphis on ESPN. Then, a TNT double-header, with the Spurs visiting Philly and the Lakers invading Chicago. There are plenty of other games of note, like Allen’s initial return to Boston on Jan. 27 (ABC), Nash’s first game in Phoenix as a Laker on Jan. 30 (ESPN), and Carmelo Anthony‘s long-awaited return to Denver on March 13 (ESPN).”