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The 2013-2014 NBA schedule was unveiled Tuesday, and the San Antonio Spurs schedule features a Christmas Day home game against Dwight Howard and the Houston Rockets.
The last time the Spurs played on Christmas Day, Roger Mason, Jr. became San Antonio's favorite new Spur by putting the Phoenix Suns away with a buzzer beater.
It's been quite a while since Christmas Day 2008, but let's hope that the result is no different this year; Although I'd appreciate it if the game didn't come down to the final buzzer.
Season Opener:
The most important note here is that they're not opening against the Miami Heat. It would be a cruel, cruel thing indeed if the Spurs were forced to return to the American Airlines Arena and have to sit through a banner raising and ring ceremony. Instead they'll host the Memphis Grizzlies who will have to sit through a banner raising and ... just kidding, Memphis fans. The Spurs don't raise banners for anything but NBA Championships's, do they?
The Rodeo Road Trip
Ah yes, the annual Attack of the At's, where the schedule designates nothing but road games (@New Orleans, @Washington, @ Brooklyn) in February. At times it has been a mark in the schedule where the Spurs hit their stride. Other times it has been a spot where the Spurs get right after struggling to start the season. Last year, it was actually the tail end of a 20 game stretch through part of January and all of February where they went 17-3.
Again, this season's trip will feature an East Coast and West Coast swing, broken up by the All-Star break. It's 9 games over 19 days, with six contests in the the eastern leg and 3 in the western, with five days off in between. There are only two BABA's in this stretch, and neither consists of two contenders.
Mon 3 @ New Orleans
Wed 5 @ Washington
Thu 6 @ Brooklyn
Sat 8 @ Charlotte
Mon 10 @ Detroit
Wed 12 @ Boston
Tue 18 @ L.A. Clippers
Wed 19 @ Portland
Fri 21 @ Phoenix
Back to Backs
It's the first thing that everybody likes to gripe about (you know who you are), but there are only two more BABA's this year (19) than there were last year (17) so I wonder what scheduling conspiracy will be concocted surrounding this year's list of SEGABABA's and FOGASENI's.
Stay tuned. Whatever it is will likely be enough to convince you that Adam Silver's NBA is no different than David Stern's -- which was, of course, built to favor every team besides the Spurs.
Stay Tuned
There will be some additional schedule analysis posts following, but don't wait for those. Feel free to let us know how you feel about the schedule in the comments.