The NBA announced its schedule for the 2018-19 preseason and regular season on Friday afternoon.
Here are five thoughts on the Clippers’ schedule:
1. Key dates to watch
• Season opener: Oct. 17 vs. Denver
• Austin Rivers’ return: Oct. 28 vs. Washington
• Kawhi Leonard’s lone L.A. appearance: Dec. 11 vs. Toronto
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• DeAndre Jordan’s return: Dec. 20 vs. Dallas
• First Lakers game: Dec. 28 at Lakers
• Blake Griffin’s return: Jan. 12 vs. Detroit
• Season finale: April 10 vs. Utah
2. Back-to-backs, road trips, home stands
The Clippers have 14 back-to-backs, which illustrates the NBA’s continued effort to limit back-to-backs, and zero four-in-five-day stretches.
All of the Clippers’ road trips are four games or fewer except for one monster trip – a six-game trek at the beginning of February (Detroit, Toronto, Charlotte, Indiana, Boston and Minnesota).
On the flip side, the Clippers have a six-game homestand in March in which they’ll face the Thunder, Celtics, Trail Blazers, Bulls, Nets and Pacers.
3. Fewer national TV games
In a sign of their projected relevance and competitiveness, the Clippers have only three nationally televised games, all of which are on TNT (they have zero ESPN and ABC games). This marks the fewest nationally televised games the franchise has had since 2009, when the Clippers drafted Blake Griffin. (They also have 12 games on NBA TV, but that’s technically not national TV.)
The Clippers’ three national TV games are odd: Nov. 15 vs. San Antonio, Nov. 29 at Sacramento and Dec. 20 vs. Dallas. The Dallas game is logical, considering it’s DeAndre Jordan’s return to Staples Center, but the first two don’t make as much sense on the surface.
To put things in perspective, the Clippers have the same number of national TV games as the Bulls and Suns, and fewer than the Mavericks, Knicks and Heat. This is a stark change from their national TV appearances from 2009 to 2018.
4. Brutal bookends
The Clippers’ start to the regular season is incredibly difficult: Denver, Oklahoma City, Houston, at New Orleans, at Houston, Washington, at Oklahoma City and at Philadelphia. They could easily be 2-6 after that ridiculous eight-game stretch, if not worse.
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It doesn’t get much easier from there. Following their game in Philadelphia, the Clippers travel to Orlando, which is a winnable game. But after that, they play Minnesota, at Portland, Milwaukee, Golden State and San Antonio. Again, there’s a scenario in which they are 4-10 or 5-9 after their first 14 games.
To end the season, the Clippers play Memphis, Houston, the Lakers, at Golden State and Utah. Depending on where they are in the playoff race — if they are still even in it at that point — that’s a difficult group of opponents to close things out (the Warriors, Rockets, Jazz and Lakers that could be the West’s four best teams).
Tough stretches bookending the season mean that there will also be easy stretches during the season, when the Clippers can make up ground from what almost certainly promises to be a slow start. That is life in the West these days.
5. Schedule’s silver lining
If you’re looking for a positive takeaway from the Clippers’ schedule, it’s their breakdown of Western Conference opponents. They face the Warriors, Lakers, Suns and Kings four times because they are Pacific Division foes (that includes the projected best and two worst teams in the West).
But as for the rest of the conference, the Clippers actually have a somewhat favorable schedule. They play the Thunder, Spurs, Trail Blazers, Nuggets, Grizzlies and Mavericks four times. Besides the Thunder, the other five teams project to be lower in the playoff picture, if they’re in it at all.
The Clippers face the Rockets, Jazz, Timberwolves and Pelicans only three times, including hosting the Rockets and Jazz at Staples Center twice (and playing the Timberwolves and Pelicans on the road twice). From that perspective, that’s a win. The Rockets and Jazz are probably the West’s second- and third-best teams on paper, and the Clippers have to visit them on the road only once.
(Top photo of Lou Williams by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
