NBA schedule released. Highlights: Celtics-Knicks on ring night, Durant goes back to school

A look at the rest of the list:

Games for Christmas Day

Victor Wembanyama and San Antonio head to New York to start the Christmas Day quintuple header, followed by Minnesota at Dallas, Philadelphia at Boston, the Lakers at Golden State and Denver at Phoenix.

It will be the Spurs' first Christmas game since 2016 and the Timberwolves' first since 2017. Milwaukee will not play a Christmas game for the first time in seven seasons.

All 30 teams play

There are four nights this season when all 30 teams are in action, with a new game starting every 15 minutes from 7:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. EST beginning on November 4.

The other dates on which all teams will play: February 12, April 11 (second to last day of the regular season) and April 13 (last day of the regular season).

Election day among the holidays

For the third year in a row, there will be no NBA games on Election Day – this year on November 5. The league said it wants to “continue to encourage fans and the broader NBA community to vote and participate in the civic process. As part of this initiative, the NBA will release critical resources from voting organizations and highlight the civic work of teams in their markets.”

Other off days for the NBA this season: November 28 (Thanksgiving), December 24 (Christmas Eve), February 17-19 (the break after All-Star weekend, which begins February 14) and April 12. There will likely be another off day in December, depending on the schedules of teams that do not make the NBA Cup semifinals.

Plaque for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day

As part of the league's annual celebration of the life of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., seven games will be played on January 20: Dallas at Charlotte, Detroit at Houston, Minnesota at Memphis, Atlanta at New York, Phoenix at Cleveland, Boston at Golden State and Utah at New Orleans.

Memphis, where King was assassinated in 1968, will host a game on the holiday for the 22nd time in 23 seasons.

Durant goes back to college for one night

Kevin Durant could play at least one more game in his college home stadium.

The Spurs will again play two games in Austin, Texas this season – on February 20 against Durant and Phoenix and then on February 21 against Detroit.

Durant played his only college season at Texas. In his final home game as a member of the Longhorns on February 28, 2007, he scored 30 points.

This schedule means Detroit will not travel to San Antonio this season. The Pistons are 1-13 in their last 14 road games at the Spurs' home stadium.

LeBron's 40th birthday

This will be LeBron James' 22nd season in the NBA, tying him with Vince Carter, who holds the league record for longest playing time.

And he has the day off on his 40th birthday.

The Los Angeles Lakers do not play on December 30. They play at home against Sacramento (his first NBA opponent when he was just 18) on December 28 and then have a home game against Cleveland (his first NBA team) off until December 31.

James is 5-5 in birthday games.

Intuit Dome Opener

The first official game at the Intuit Dome, the new home of the Los Angeles Clippers, will be on October 23 when they face the Phoenix Suns.

The Clippers have shared an arena with the Los Angeles Lakers since the 1999-2000 season. It was not uncommon for the Clippers and Lakers to have home games on the same day – one playing in the afternoon, the other in the evening after the court was replaced and the building was quickly cleaned.

However, there will be at least eight dates this season when the Clippers and Lakers both play at home, and all but one will be simultaneous games: January 11, January 13, January 15, January 21, February 6, February 8, March 18 and April 4.

Schedule for Super Bowl Sunday

And once again, the NBA will be finished for today long before the Super Bowl kicks off.

There will be three games on February 9, the day of the NFL title game: Charlotte at Detroit at 1 p.m., Toronto at Houston at 2 p.m. and Philadelphia at Milwaukee at 2 p.m.

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Kickoff time for the Super Bowl is usually around 6:30 p.m.

Return matches in the final

Boston will face Dallas on Jan. 25 in the first rematch of last season's NBA Finals. Dallas will face Boston on Feb. 6.

This is the seventh consecutive season that there will be no rematch of the NBA Finals on Christmas Day. Five of the previous seven seasons featured a rematch of the previous season's Finals on Christmas Day.

No. 1 faces No. 1

The two games between the teams with the most recent No. 1 draft picks — San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama and Atlanta's Zaccharie Risacher — will be nationally televised. The games will take place on Dec. 19 in San Antonio on TNT, then on Feb. 5 in Atlanta on ESPN.

Both players come from France.

NCAA title game day

It's an unofficial tradition that the day of the NCAA men's basketball championship game is a day off in the NBA. That won't be the case this year, as Sacramento will play at Detroit and Philadelphia at Miami on April 7.

The men's Final Four will be held in San Antonio this year; the Spurs will not be there. They will host Cleveland on April 4, the day before the national semifinals, and then go on an away trip.

The last day

All 30 teams will play on the final day of the season, April 13. Each game will begin at either 1:00 p.m. or 3:30 p.m. EDT.

Each team, with the exception of Toronto and San Antonio, will face an opponent from their own conference. The Raptors will be visiting the Spurs.

Outlook on the NBA Finals

Game 1 of the NBA Finals will take place on June 5th.

That means – if the schedule is as it has been in years past – that Game 2 will likely be on June 8, Game 3 on June 11, Game 4 on June 13, Game 5 on June 16, Game 6 on June 19 and Game 7, if necessary, on June 22.

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