Six of one ...

Longest homestand, road trip come early

Heat start with six home games, then travel for six.

MIAMI — The Heat will go to extremes when it comes to the 2017-18 schedule released Monday by the NBA.

The Heat’s first homestand will be their longest of the season, a six-game stretch that includes challenging games against the Spurs, Celtics and Timberwolves.

From there, the Heat will immediately embark on their longest trip of the season, a six-game run that includes the test of the NBA champion Warriors on the second night of the Heat’s first back-to-back games of the season.

For a team that went 11-30 over the first half of last season only to then go 30-11 over the remaining 41 games, a strong start figures to be essential for a roster largely kept intact by Heat President Pat Riley.

The Heat open their season Oct. 18 at the Amway Center against the Magic, as they did last season, then next play in their home opener Oct. 21 against the Pacers.

The Heat’s previous earliest season opener had been Oct. 26 in both 2010 and last year. The Heat’s earliest regular-season home game previously had been Oct. 28, three times, including last year. The six games in October are a record over the Heat’s 30 seasons.

The NBA season was moved up by a week, and the league is emphasizing increased rest, with no stretches of four games in five nights for any teams this season. So, the Heat will have only 13 back-to-back sets, two fewer than last season and four fewer than two seasons ago. Included in that total are consecutive home games on Dec. 22 and Dec. 23, against the Mavericks and Pelicans, the first time that has happened since the lockout shortened 2011-12 season.

As is annually the case, the Heat will play each of the 15 Western Conference teams

twice, on a home-and-home basis. That lone Warriors’ visit of the season will be Dec. 3.

The Heat will play 10 of their 14 Eastern Conference opponents four times, with two home games and two road games. The exceptions are three-game series against the Cavaliers and Raptors, who the Heat will only host once, as well as three-game series against the Celtics and Bucks, who the Heat only visit once.

After failing to make the playoffs, the Heat are scheduled for four national appearances on ESPN, one on TNT and four on NBA TV, although there is flexibility built into those national assignments.

With the Ringling Bros. circus no longer operating, the Heat will not have the early-January western swing that had been a staple of their schedule. Instead, the Heat will have only one road game between Dec. 21 and Jan. 8.

The Heat will close their schedule with six of their final eight at home, but with a potentially taxing closing week against the visiting Thunder and visiting Raptors on April 13, the closing night for the entire league. The Heat’s five games in April are a franchise low for April.

Another favorable twist is the Heat have only one set of back-to-back games over their final 17 games, a quick trip of a game at home against the Hawks on April 3 and then at Atlanta on April 4.

The Heat will be off on Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, with a road game on Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 15 against the Bulls.

In somewhat of a scheduling oddity, the Heat will complete their two-game season series against the Minnesota Timberwolves by Nov. 24 and finish their three-game season series against the Celtics by Dec. 20.

The lone conflict between Heat and Miami Dolphins home games is Dec. 3, when the Heat host the Warriors at 7 p.m. and the Dolphins host the Broncos. The teams play on the same day four times.

The lone time the Heat and University of Miami football team play at home on the same day is Oct. 21, when the Heat play the Pacers at 8 p.m. in their home opener and the Hurricanes host Syracuse. The teams play on the same day three times.

There will, however, be 14 conflicts this season between Heat and Florida Panthers home games, six more than last season.

Ticket sales

Individual game Heat tickets will go on sale Sept. 15 at 10 a.m. at heat.com and ticketmaster.com, with several partial- and full-season plans already on sale, including a $599 season package for all 44 home dates (including the three home exhibitions) for seating in the 400 balcony level.

That plan can be purchased online with the tickets delivered directly to smart phones. That package includes a $100 upgrade credit that can be used for select games.

Season-ticket details are available at heatticketplans.com or by calling 786-777-HOOP (4667).

The Heat are transitioning to mobile-only entry for the 2017-18 season at AmericanAirlines Arena.