It feels like NBA fans are coming out of the desert right now.
The revealing of the schedule every August brings with it the first tangible sign that the NBA is on the horizon.
These next six weeks before training camp opens will be long. But the hype could not be any higher for every team in the league.
Everybody believes in the best version of their team in August. And with how many new champions have been crowned, everyone can believe a little bit more.
The schedule can be one of the great dividers. It can tip teams up or down a few seed lines.
The way those 82 games are arranged can determine a lot of a team's success. And everyone will be breaking down those details over the next few weeks as they wait for the season to start.
More immediately, fans want to know the big games they will get on their home floor. They want to know which games they need to look forward to before the Playoffs.
It is a long journey to April. Having a big game on your home floor is still pretty meaningful. And it is still something for every fan base to look forward to.
There will be plenty of big games at the Kia Center. And there will be big games that will be unveiled as the season progresses and the standings shake out.
Here in August, everyone is simply excited for the games to start. And we already have a few dates at Kia Center circled.
Tickets are on sale now at the Kia Center box office -- or wherever you get tickets.
Nov. 24 vs. Detroit Pistons (NBA Cup)
There are the obvious dates to look forward to that we will not write out specific blurbs on.
Everyone should be eagerly awaiting the Oct. 21 home opener against the Atlanta Hawks for a multitude of reasons. It is both a big division game that will help determine the Orlando Magic's standing at the end of the season and a revenge game after the Atlanta Hawks swept the Magic last season.
And Fan Appreciation Night at the end of the season is a big deal too. The closing game against the Toronto Raptors on April 9 will be critical.
Those are too obvious to put on a limited list trying to highlight fun games on the schedule -- there are only 41 of these home games, after all.
The first truly big game on the calendar comes Thanksgiving week in the NBA Cup. It is one Magic fans should have had circled for a long time.
The Detroit Pistons make their lone scheduled trip to the Kia Center on Nov. 24. It is the first time the Pistons will be back in Orlando since the Magic's shameful Game 6 defeat. And there will be a lot of demons to exorcize that evening.
And that does not get into the stakes for the NBA Cup.
The Magic get a one-game pit stop at home for this game -- and then play the Pistons in Detroit for the first time since Game 7 a few days later, actually finishing their three games with the Pistons on New Year's Day.
This game should be as big as any the Magic have in the first quarter of the season.
Dec. 14 vs. Philadelphia 76ers
The Orlando Magic have only eight national TV appearances scheduled this season. At least five of them come at the Kia Center. But only two of the eight total happen before the All-Star break.
If the Magic are a surprise team in the East, the nation will likely not see them before they break through. Maybe some games get added during the course of the season. But Orlando will have precious few moments to be in the national spotlight.
And they will need to claim them to make a statement.
One of those two will come in mid-December, when the Magic welcome LeBron James, Jaylen Brown and the suddenly high-powered Philadelphia 76ers to the Kia Center. It is Philadelphia's second trip to Orlando. The Sixers arrive at Kia Center in mid-November too.
But this is also the last scheduled game between the two teams for the regular season. That is a quick series against one of the expected better teams in the Eastern Conference. And this game represents the last game of that series -- in a home-and-home at that.
The Sixers will be a big-ticket game. They are a marquee game on the schedule now. This is not just a Play-In rematch. It is still a proving ground.
Getting to do it on national TV would quietly be a statement for a young team still trying to make its mark.
Feb. 12 vs. Miami Heat
Last year, the Orlando Magic saw the Miami Heat five times in the regular season. They came through Orlando three times before Christmas, including a bonus game for the NBA Cup quarterfinals.
This year, the Magic do not see their in-state rivals until February. They play three times after the All-Star break, including the season finale in Miami. The Feb. 12 game before the All-Star break is the lone game before that final (home-heavy) stretch.
How thoroughly the Magic defeated the Heat was a source of some embarrassment for the proud South Florida franchise -- and a source of pride for Magic fans.
Waiting this long for the Magic to face their in-state rival is certainly going to test some patience. The Magic won the season series last year so thoroughly, but the Heat stole all the headlines this summer by finally acquiring Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The Heat have a superstar now, but they are still a flawed roster. One that the Magic need to prove they are better than, still.
That will have to wait until Miami makes that trip in February to do so. And that will kick off an eventufl weekend at the Kia Center.
Feb. 13 vs. San Antonio Spurs
Undboutedly, Victor Wembanyama is one of the major attractions in the NBA these days.
Trying to describe him as a draft prospect to non-NBA people was a herculean task. Actually seeing him play in person is still a spectacle.
Wembanyama has not played in Orlando often. That is a product of the San Antonio Spurs making just one yearly trip to Orlando. He sat out last year's game. The year before was one of his last games before he was out of the season with deep vein thrombosis.
Wembanyama and the Spurs' yearly trip to Orlando is still an event. And this one is the second night of a home-home back-to-back with the Miami Heat. It will be a big weekend at the Kia Center with those two games.
The Spurs will remain title contenders. They will remain a team that everyone will be watching. And they will remain a team with an attraction worth circling on the calendar.
March 28/30 vs. New York Knicks
Any time the defending champions come to town, it is a big deal. Everybody is chasing that team and is trying to get to the top of the mountain.
That the defending champions are a big-market team that always become an event anyway will only make the game that much bigger. That we have to wait until March for the Knicks to make their lone trip to Orlando is somewhat torture.
But circle Easter Sunday and the following Tuesday for the Magic's game against the Knicks, always hotly contested games between two quiet rivals.
The duo of games are not just one of the few title contenders the Magic face in the final six weeks of the season. These also represent two of the four non-Peacock games the Magic have on the national television schedule.
Easter Sunday, March 28, the Magic host the Knicks on ESPN for a 12:30 p.m. matinee. That is followed by an NBC Coast to Coast game at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, March 30.
The Knicks should be worth the wait.
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