NBA: Raptors’ longest road swing is out of the way early
The Toronto Raptors will make their earliest regular-season start in club history this fall.
The NBA released its full schedule Monday, and Toronto will start its 23rd season at home against Chicago on Oct. 19 — a week earlier than last season’s start.
Toronto’s road debut is Oct. 23 at San Antonio, which will open a sixgame road swing, their longest of the season.
The longest home stand is four games from Feb. 2-8. They will end the regular season April 11 at Miami.
Toronto will host the NBA champion Golden State Warriors on Jan. 13, two days after the lone visit from LeBron James and the Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Raptors will have 14 back-toback games, down three from last season. Six will feature a pair road games.
More facts and dates to watch from the NBA schedule:
The four-games-in-five-days challenges? Eliminated for the first time in NBA history.
Back-to-backs? Only 14.4 per team on average, an all-time low for the third year in a row.
Single-game road trips, average miles travelled and time zones crossed? All down a bit as well.
Opening night is Oct. 17, the earliest the regular season has started in 37 years.
Paul George travels back to Indiana on Dec. 13 for the first time since the Pacers surprisingly dealt him to Oklahoma City.
Jimmy Butler, another all-star who went East to West, takes the Timberwolves into Chicago on Feb. 9.
The NBA’s top two draft picks go head-to-head for the first time Nov. 15 when Markelle Fultz and Philadelphia visit Lonzo Ball and the Lakers.
The all-star game goes Feb. 18 in Los Angeles.
The Christmas schedule, as usual, is headlined by NBA finalists Golden State and Cleveland meeting for the first time since the Warriors’ fivegame victory in June. Their rematch in Cleveland is on Jan. 15.
Later that night, Chris Paul’s Houston Rockets play the Clippers at Staples Center for the first time since acquiring the point guard to play alongside James.