July 26, 2012
Warriors Announce Schedule For 2012-13 Season, Presented By Kaiser Permanente
82-Game Docket Begins On Halloween At Phoenix; Home Opener Set For November 2 Against Memphis
The Warriors 2012-13 home opener will take place on Friday, November 2 against the Memphis Grizzlies. (warriors.com photo)
The National Basketball Association announced today that the Golden State Warriors 2012-13 season, presented by Kaiser Permanente, begins on Wednesday, October 31, in Phoenix against the Suns – marking the first time since 2001-02 that the team will open a season on the road. The Warriors home opener will take place two nights later, on Friday, November 2, when the Warriors play host to the Memphis Grizzlies at Oracle Arena.
Highlights of the team’s home schedule include visits by the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday, December 22 and Monday, March 25; the Boston Celtics on Saturday, December 29; the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday, January 2 and Monday, January 21; the defending NBA Champion Miami Heat on Wednesday, January 16; the Western Conference Champion Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday, January 23 and Thursday, April 11; the lone appearance by the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday, January 31; the San Antonio Spurs on Friday, February 22 and Monday, April 15 in the final home game of the regular-season; and the Chicago Bulls on Friday, March 15. Road games of note include the Warriors first-ever visit to Brooklyn to face the Nets on December 7 and a game in Philadelphia against the 76ers on March 2, which is the anniversary of Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game for the Philadelphia Warriors in nearby Hershey, PA.
The Warriors are slated to make eight (8) national television appearances this season, with three (3) games scheduled on TNT and five (5) on ESPN. Golden State will be featured on TNT’s exclusive Thursday night coverage of three home games on November 29 vs. Denver Nuggets, January 31 vs. Dallas Mavericks, and April 11 vs. Oklahoma City Thunder. The team’s ESPN appearances are scheduled for Friday, December 14 at Orlando Magic; Wednesday, January 16 vs. Miami Heat; Friday, February 22 vs. San Antonio Spurs; Friday, March 8 vs. Houston Rockets; and, in the season finale, on Wednesday, April 17 at Portland Trail Blazers. Additionally, the Warriors also have seven (7) games currently scheduled to air on NBA TV, the league’s 24-hour cable network.
Golden State will be on the road for 15 of its first 24 contests to start the season, and will end the campaign by playing 16 of its final 22 games at home. The team embarks on a season-long seven-game road trip from December 5-15, and enjoys a season-long seven-game home stand from March 4-15. The Warriors have 20 back-to-backs on the schedule this season, including three home/home, three home/away, three away/home and 11 away/away back-to-backs.
Tip-off time for the majority of Golden State’s home games during the 2012-13 season will be 7:30 p.m., with the exception of the lone home Sunday contest on April 7 versus Utah (5:00 p.m.) and the Monday, January 21 game against the Clippers, which starts at 1:00 p.m. as part of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday celebration.
The 2012-13 NBA schedule will once again use a 30-team format (two conferences of 15 teams each, with three five-team divisions within each conference) in which teams will play each opponent within their division four times, while playing six of the remaining 10 teams in their conference four times, and the four remaining teams in their conference only three times. Teams will also play all 15 opponents outside of their conference two times each. For 2012-13, the Warriors will play only three games against the following Western Conference opponents: Memphis Grizzlies (two at home, one away), Portland Trail Blazers (two at home, one away), Dallas Mavericks (one at home, two away), and Utah Jazz (one at home, two away).