By the Numbers is presented by Betway.
The NBA schedule has been released, and with that comes analyzing it, breaking it down, and looking at specific matchups. Let's take a wider view of the full slate and look at some numbers that stand out.
17 … national TV games for the Wine and Gold this season – including three on TNT (vs. NYK, 10/31; at PHI, 11/21; at MEM, 2/1), six on ESPN (vs. MIL, 1/17; vs. CHI, 2/14; at PHI, 2/23; vs. NYK, 3/3; vs. BKN, 3/10; at PHX, 4/3) and eight on NBATV, including the January 11 meeting with Brooklyn in Paris.
15 … sets of back-to-backs the Cavaliers will play this year – slightly greater than both the Conference and league average.
8 … days to complete the longest road trip of the year, a rough five-game West Coast trip beginning on Easter Sunday in Denver, followed by a back-to-back against Utah and Phoenix and wrapping up with another back-to-back, taking on the Lakers and Clippers the following weekend at Staples Center.
5 | 2 | 2 … sets of back-to-backs, respectively, that the Cavaliers have no travel, travel a distance of over 750 miles between cities, or travel from one Time Zone to another – the final number over half fewer than the Conference average.
17 … home weekend dates at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse – right around the league average – with seven contests on a Sunday this year, including three in November, nearly two games more than the league average.
33,000 … approximate miles that the Cavaliers will travel this year – 5,000 fewer than the Eastern Conference average and 11,000 less than the Conference maximum.
7 | 7 | 7 | 8 … home games this year, respectively, that the Cavaliers will play on a Monday, Friday, Sunday, and Wednesday – (with four games on a Tuesday and Thursday and only three on a Saturday, below the league average of 5.3).
17 … games that the Cavaliers will pack in during the month of March – Cleveland’s busiest of the season – with nine games on the road, including seven of the final 10.
.541 … winning percentage from last season of the five teams Cleveland will face on the final road trip of the season.
9 … days that consist of the Cavaliers’ longest home stand of the season, a five-gamer spanning the Thanksgiving holiday in late November – beginning with a visit from the Heat on the Thanksgiving Eve followed by a visit from LeBron and the Lakers on the following Saturday and wrapping up with Portland on the final day of the month.