HORNETS TO OPEN SEASON ON HALLOWEEN AT HOME VS. SPURSHornets to appear on ESPN twice
July 26, 2012
The New Orleans Hornets will open the 2012-13 regular season at home on Wednesday, Oct. 31, when they take on Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and the San Antonio Spurs. The Hornets first road game comes on Saturday, Nov. 3, when they take on Luol Deng and the Chicago Bulls.
“Everyone in our organization, our city and our region is excited to get this season underway,” said Owner/Chairman of the Board Tom Benson. “We can’t wait to strive towards our goal of being a champion and for our wonderful fans in New Orleans and the state of Louisiana to experience the thrilling, non-stop excitement of Hornets basketball in person at the New Orleans Arena.”
The Hornets play six of their first nine games at home to open the season, including a tilt against the defending Western Conference Champion Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday, Nov. 16 and a tilt against Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire and the New York Knicks on Tuesday, Nov. 20.
The Hornets will appear on national television twice this season, both times on ESPN. Their first national showcase will come against Andre Iguodala and the Philadelphia 76ers at home on Wednesday, Nov. 7. The second ESPN tilt will showcase the first-ever meeting between Boston Celtics Head Coach Doc Rivers and his son, current Hornets guard Austin Rivers, when the Hornets travel to play the Celtics on Wednesday, Jan. 16.
The Hornets will play 20 of their 41 home games on Friday (14), Saturday (3) or Sunday (3) night. Their most frequent game night will be Friday.
All home games will tip off at 7:00 p.m. with the following exceptions: Monday, Jan. 21 vs. Sacramento; Sunday, Feb. 24 vs. Sacramento; Sunday, Mar. 10 vs. Portland, Sunday, Mar. 31 vs. Cleveland and Sunday, Apr. 14 vs. Dallas. The Jan. 21 game will tip off at noon in honor Martin Luther King Day, while the Feb. 24 vs. Kings, Mavericks and Cavaliers games will tip off at 5:00 p.m. The Blazers game will tip off at 6:00 p.m.
The Hornets’ longest road trip will be two five-game swings taking place Jan. 27-Feb. 2 and Apr. 3-10, while the longest homestand is seven games. The seven-game homestand takes place Mar. 18-31 (with games against Golden State, Boston, Memphis, Denver, L.A. Clippers, Miami and Cleveland).
The Hornets will play Southwest Division rivals (Dallas, Houston, Memphis and San Antonio) four times each (twice at home/twice on the road). The same holds true for Pacific and Northwest Division teams, with the exception of Denver (one home game on Mar. 25), Phoenix (one home game on Feb. 6), Portland (one road game on Dec. 16) and Sacramento (one road game on Apr. 10).
The Hornets will host a Select-a-Seat event at the New Orleans Arena on Saturday, July 28. The event will be open to the public from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and will mark the first chance for fans to select seats in person after the release of the 2012-13 NBA schedule. Fans will have the opportunity to select their seats for 2012-13 season-ticket packages, as well as half-season and 12-game plans.