The Phoenix Suns open the season on October 29th with a home game against Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers and then host the NBA champion San Antonio Spurs two days later on Halloween. That should be a pretty entertaining start to the season.
Here's a link to NBA.com to check out the Opening Night, Christmas Day and MLK Day lineups. The Suns host the Lakers on MLK Day in a TNT televised game.
National TV Games: 17 total, ESPN - 4, TNT - 6, NBATV - 7
Longest Homestand: 8 games (19 total days), January 12th - 30th
Longest Road Trip: 6 games (10 total days), November 15th - 24th
Back-to-Backs: 18
Highlights:
Wednesday, October 29 - Kobe Bryant will be back in Phoenix after an injury induced hiatus last season. Bryant will be playing in his 19th NBA season. Soak it in Suns fans, you're running out of chances to mercilessly boo this Laker reprobate. Some guy named Steve Nash will also likely be on the bench nursing injuries.
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Friday, October 31 - The Suns face the NBA champion San Antonio Spurs for the first time this season. I love beating the Spurs... at anything. If Shavlik Randolph beat Tim Duncan in a game of hopscotch I would stand and cheer.
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Friday, November 7 - Isaiah Thomas will face his former team and has made it very transparent that he intends on killing the Kings. That makes you and 28 other teams, Isaiah. This is the Kings we're talking about.
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Sunday, November 30 - It will be Shark Night in Phoenix when the Orlando Magic and Channing Frye come calling. Despite the evident frustration Channing displayed after his exodus from the valley I expect this to be a very amicable environment... which means there probably won't be any actual live sharks.
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Tuesday, January 13 - The new look Cleveland Cavaliers, replete with a windfall of talent, visit the Suns for their yearly cameo. LeBron James, Kevin Love (I'm conceding this) and Kyrie Irving will likely have the circus in tow. I have a sneaking suspicion that not many Suns fans will miss this game.
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Friday, January 30 - Derrick Rose will make his first visit to the valley since November 24, 2010. He had 35 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists in that game as the Chicago Bulls bested Phoenix in overtime, 123-115. Jason Richardson and Hedo Tukoglu were still Suns.
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Sunday, March 15 - Amar'e Stoudemire makes his annual return to Phoenix. In his visit last season Stoudemire scored 19 points and grabbed six rebounds. Sadly, that is a really good game for him these days. The Suns boatraced the Knicks in that game by a score of 112-88.
You can download a word copy of the schedule here:
*The Suns will also host Ish Smith and the Houston Rockets on Friday, January 23rd in what promises to be one of the most bittersweet days in Phoenix Suns basketball history...