After weeks of silence in the NBA, the latest news has been released for the 2024-25 season. Mere hours ago, teams across the league unveiled their schedule for the next campaign and it has successfully set the stage for an exciting season.
The action officially begins on October 22nd, with several high-intensity matchups expected to kick off the new season. The day will start with a game between the Knicks and Celtics at 4:30 eastern before the Timberwolves face the Lakers for a West Coast showdown.
Lakers first 5 games 👀
vs Timberwolves
vs Suns
vs Kings
@ Suns
@ Cavaliers
How many they winning? pic.twitter.com/EXskgoN3d9
— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) August 15, 2024
Of course, the Lakers’ schedule was a topic of major discussion, and many fans were stressed to see the difficulty of their first 10 games with matchups against the Timberwolves, Suns, Kings, Cavaliers, Grizzlies, and the 76ers. Being in the West, there will be no easy weeks for the Lake Show going forward.
🚨 LAKERS 2024-25 SCHEDULE 🚨 pic.twitter.com/CCLUpsoAdJ
— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) August 15, 2024
The in-season tournament, which has been re-branded to the Emirates Cup, is scheduled to start on November 12 in Las Vegas. The semifinals and Finals game will take place on December 14 and 17. The format will stay mostly the same as last year but fans are eager to see how the event will evolve over time.
Arguably the only thing bigger than the Emirates Cup will be the NBA’s Christmas Day schedule. It’s been a long tradition for the league to save the best matchups for the holiday season and they continued the tradition this year by including games between the Lakers and Warriors, Timberwolves and Mavericks, and 76ers vs. Celtics.
This year’s Christmas Day sports schedule 😳
NBA:
– Spurs at Knicks
– Timberwolves at Mavericks
– 76ers at Celtics
– Lakers at Warriors
– Nuggets at Suns
NFL:
– Chiefs at Steelers
– Ravens at Texans pic.twitter.com/KBfCx52B43
— BetMGM 🦁 (@BetMGM) August 9, 2024
The play-in tournament will also continue next season with a start date of April 15, four days before the first playoff game. Like the Emirates Cup, the play-in will keep the same format as normal in hopes of building on the momentum of previous years.
While it’s still too early to determine how teams will live up to their expectations, early projections have concluded that the Nuggets currently have the easiest schedule based on factors that include travel, altitude, and home vs. road games. Narrowly below them are the Pacers, Magic, Celtics, and Knicks.
The Nuggets have the NBA's easiest strength of schedule, according to @presidual, which factors in home/road rest advantage, travel, altitude, etc.
Denver has 10 games with a rest advantage, 12 games with a rest disadvantage pic.twitter.com/0UpD1PeJ6P
— Harrison Wind (@HarrisonWind) August 15, 2024
The 2024-25 NBA campaign is already on the horizon and it will mark the start of a season of change for the NBA. Teams across the league will be operating under the fresh new CBA while also testing a new schedule designed to prioritize the nationally televised games.
According to NBA insider Tim Reynolds, teams will no longer play four games in five nights and they will no longer have to play the day before or after a high-profile matchup.
The NBA schedule is out. A couple nuggets:
– Average back-to-backs: 14.9. Up from last year, down 23% from a decade ago.
– No 4-in-5-nights, no 8-in-12-nights, no 18-in-30-nights.
– Teams won't play the day before or the day after "high-profile national TV games" this season.
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) August 15, 2024
These changes should lower the cases of load management and they might even help players avoid injuries on the court. At the very least, it will help ensure that the NBA’s best games are given the full chance to shine with the best players in attendance.
After such an electric season, the NBA wanted to do everything they could to give the fans the best experience possible for the 2024-25 campaign. Judging by the schedule, there will be plenty of must-see moments but the big events will be the opening night, the Emirates Cup, and the NBA Christmas Day showdown. No doubt, Adam Silver will have his league pull out all the stops to make those times special.
After that, it’s anyone’s guess what will happen next season and only time will reveal how the standings shake up. But for now, fans are excited for what’s to come and it speaks volumes about the state of the NBA right now that there’s so much to look forward to.
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