The NBA released its 2021-22 schedule this week, a return to the normal 82-game campaign after last season’s shortened run due to the pandemic.
Brooklyn enters this season with the highest expectations in the league after falling short in the 2021 Playoffs largely due to injury. If Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving enter this postseason healthy, there isn’t much the league can do to stop them.
Here is what to expect from the Nets schedule:
Brooklyn may be positioned to dominate the league on paper, but face some tough stretches in their schedule early on. Eight of November’s 14 games are on the road, including the Nets’ longest trip, a six-game swing from Nov. 5 to 14, mostly featuring East opponents. Twelve of the 16 games leading up the All-Star break are also on the road.
Brooklyn’s longest home spell follows their first two games of the season, when they face the Hornets in their home opener prior to playing Washington, Miami, Indiana, Detroit and Atlanta. If fans can’t catch them there, 38 - or nearly half - of Brooklyn’s games will be featured on national television.
The Nets will also deal with 12 back-to-backs on the year.
Key dates
Tuesday, Oct. 19: Season opener @ Milwaukee
Sunday, Oct. 24: Home opener vs Charlotte
Saturday, Dec. 25: Christmas Day matchup @ Lakers
Weekend of Feb. 18-20: All-Star Weekend
Sunday, April 10: Final day of regular season
Nets fans hoping to see some early tastes of the postseason and Finals can catch Giannis Antetkounmpo’s return to Brooklyn fresh off a ring on Jan. 7 and LeBron James’s newly-upgraded Lakers on Jan. 25.
There are also a number of homecomings on the docket.
On Oct. 29, Caris LeVert makes his first return to the team that drafted him since going to the Pacers in the Harden deal. Spencer Dinwiddie - who revitalized his career and spent five seasons in Brooklyn - makes his Barclays Center return in a new uniform early on in the season, when the Wizards come to town on October 25.
Newly-acquired guard Patty Mills makes his first return to San Antonio as a Net after spending 10 seasons as a Spur on January 21.
If injuries or other factors make playoff seeding a real fight down the wire, the Nets get to face the Heat, Bucks, Hawks and Knicks in their final 10 games.
