Three years ago, the league couldn't release a full schedule for the 2020-21 season, but that's because people don't know how many games will be postponed due to the pandemic. This year's league release schedule is also not a full version, but for a somewhat different reason.
1. 80 games There are also some new details
The league's schedule only lists 80 games for each team, with the remaining two games (December 4-9) scheduled after the group stage of the inaugural Mid-Season Championship. Because the quarterfinals and semifinals of the mid-season tournament are counted as regular season records, the last two games cannot be scheduled for the time being.
Here's the schedule for 82 games each season since 2004-05, when the Charlotte Bobcats became the league's 30th team...
Each team will play four games against four teams in the same division;
Ten teams in the same division and in different divisions, play four games with six of them;
Of the ten teams in the same division and in different divisions, three matches are played against the remaining four teams;
Play two matches each with 15 teams from another division.
The two missing games in the new season's schedule were originally the second of the above criteria. As a result, each team will now play a total of four matches against eight teams in the new season: four teams from their own division, and four teams from the same division but different divisions. Of course, if a team reaches the quarterfinals of the mid-season tournament, his two knockout stage matches may meet teams with whom he has already planned four games.
It will be the first time in the league's 20-year history that two teams have gone head-to-head in the regular season. The last season was in 2003-04, the final season for 29 teams, when the Nets and Heat played a total of five games throughout the season.
The league can't predict in advance which eight teams will emerge from the group stage, but when scheduling the remaining 22 games between the 22 teams that did not qualify, the league will do its best to avoid another meeting between two teams that have already scheduled four games.
But since the remaining 22 matches involve 11 teams in each division, and the matches can only be played on two match days (December 6 and 8), this will include two matches between different divisions (East vs West). This means that there are four teams that will play three matches against teams from different divisions. It would be the first time since the 1978-79 season, when there were only 22 teams, that a team played more than two games against opponents in different divisions during the regular season.
2. The number of back-to-back times increases
The quarterfinals, semi-finals and make-up rounds of the Mid-Season Championship will all be played in the seventh week of the season (December 5-11, Beijing time), during which there will be no regular season and no back-to-back schedules. However, since the teams only play two games in eight days (no matches scheduled for December 4), the rest of the schedule will be slightly tighter, so the teams will have more back-to-back times than last season.
(Note: The "make-up match" will be played between the two teams that lost in the quarterfinals of their respective divisions, and the two matches will be played on December 9, Beijing time)
The number of back-to-back seasons in the new season is different from the previous ones in two ways. First, each team will face 13-15 back-to-back fixtures in the new season, the smallest range in nearly 28 years (compared to 12-15 last season). Although the average number of declines increased slightly, the peak remained consistent with the previous season.
In addition, the range of the "rest advantage" game is also slightly tighter than before, with the range of +6 (Lakers & Raptors) to -6 (Spurs) last season and +5 (four teams) to -5 (three teams) in the new season, obviously the schedule of the new season will be fairer.
(Note: A "rest advantage" match is a game in which one team plays the previous day/night, but the other team does not play.) ）
3. Reduce the team's travels
In addition, there will be more back-to-back matches in the same city in the new season, with both back-to-back matches at home being significantly improved. In the 2022-23 season, there were a total of 82 back-to-back matches played at home. By the 2023-24 season, that number will rise to 136.
Next season, the Suns will have 14 back-to-back games, eight of which will be at home. The Trail Blazers likewise have 14 back-to-back games, seven at home and one in Memphis. The Spurs have 13 back-to-back games next season, seven in the same city and one in Portland.
The back-to-back games of the new season will also minimize team travel time, such as scheduling back-to-back games against the Warriors and Kings, and back-to-back games against the Bulls and Bucks.
Of course, it is not uncommon to play two teams in a row in the same city. If a team flies to New York, it can play the Knicks and Nets. If you fly to Los Angeles, you can compete with the Lakers and Clippers. Although the schedule is still tight for the new season, with two teams playing 83 games in the regular season (including one mid-season tournament final), the league will do everything possible to help teams reduce the time spent on the road.
4. The Bucks are off to another great start to the year
Last season, the Lakers bucked the strong trend at the beginning of the season, losing 12 of their first 20 games, but eventually reached the divisional finals. But the record in the first 20 games is often a good measure of a team, and 83% of the teams that have won 11 of the first 20 games in the last 20 full seasons (82 games) have made the playoffs; Only 13 percent of teams that won fewer than nine of their first 20 games made it to the playoffs.
As the Week 7 matches are not yet scheduled, we cannot yet fully assess the situation of each team's first 20 matches. By week six, four teams had played 21 games, while one team (the Rockets) had played only 17.
But we can still look at the first six weeks to see which teams have the best/worst chance of getting off to a strong start.
Here are five teams with the easiest fixture schedules in the first six weeks of the season, taking into account their opponents' cumulative win percentage, location, and breaks:
1. Hornets: 10 home games, 8 away games, 2 rest advantages, 1 rest disadvantage
2. Pacers: 11 home games, 7 away games, 3 rest advantages, 1 rest disadvantage
3. Bucks: 10 home games, 10 away games, 1 rest advantage, 2 rest disadvantages
4. Magic: 10 home games, 1 neutral position (against the Hornets against Mexico), 9 away games, 3 rest advantages, 4 rest disadvantages
5. Hornets: 10 home games, 10 away games, 3 rest advantages, 2 rest disadvantages
This is the second year in a row that the Bucks (just 12-8 in the first 20 games of last season) have had a relatively easy start to the schedule.
5. Western teams face a difficult start
Over the past two seasons, the East Division team has a dominant record against the West Division team, occupying two of the best teams predicted by the data, but occupying 11 spots in the West Division of the top 17 teams.
With a large number of in-division games in the first six weeks of the season, with the same predictions mentioned above, the West Division teams occupy the top seven spots for the hardest teams on the schedule.
Here are five teams with the toughest fixtures in the first six weeks of the season, taking into account opponents' cumulative win percentages, locations, and breaks:
1. Rockets: 9 home games, 8 away games, 0 rest advantages, 2 rest disadvantages
2. Spurs: 10 home games, 9 away games, 1 rest advantage, 3 rest disadvantages
3. Blazers: 7 home games, 12 away games, 2 rest advantages, 3 rest disadvantages
4. Jazz: 10 home games, 10 away games, 2 rest disadvantages, 3 rest disadvantages
5. Warriors: 10 home games, 10 away games, 3 rest disadvantages, 2 rest disadvantages
The Spurs, Blazers and Jazz finished in the top three in this assessment last season, but the Blazers (9-3) and Jazz (10-3) all got off to a strong start.
(NBA official website)