It’s NBA schedule release season! A hopeful season is on the horizon and the blueprint for success is beginning to take shape. The NBA has leaked some matchups on marquee dates for the Phoenix Suns.
Here at Bright Side, we’ve already covered early reports of the Phoenix Suns schedule for the upcoming season:
- Opening Night (Oct. 19) — hosting Dallas on ESPN
- Christmas Day (Dec. 25) — @ Nuggets on ESPN/ABC
- MLK Day (Jan. 16) — @ Grizzlies on TNT
And about a month and a half away from media day then the opening of training camp, the full schedule was released on Wednesday. The vision is now clear as to what the Suns will face as they attempt to return to the NBA Finals.
Without further ado, your 2022-23 Phoenix Suns regular season schedule:
It’s loaded with nationally televised appearances for the Suns:
- ESPN: 11
- ABC: 2
- TNT: 9
- NBA TV: 12
A grand total of 34 games.
NBA TV matchups are still blacked out locally and available exclusively on Bally Sports Arizona for local fans. However, Bally Sports recently announced “Bally Sports+” which is meant to provide Suns and Arizona Coyotes games directly to local viewers who don’t already get the network through their TV providers.
After nationally-televised games, divisional matchups are usually the next place my eyes go when the schedule comes out, since there’s four against each team. Here are when each of those will take place (home games bolded, road games italicized):
- Golden State Warriors: Oct. 25 (TNT), Nov. 16 (ESPN), Jan. 10 (TNT), Mar. 13 (ESPN)
- Los Angeles Lakers: Nov. 22 (TNT), Dec. 19 (NBA TV), Mar. 22 (ESPN), Apr. 7 (NBA TV)
- Los Angeles Clippers: Oct. 23 (NBA TV), Dec. 15 (NBA TV), Feb. 16 (TNT; final game before All-Star Break), Apr. 9 (final regular season game)
- Sacramento Kings: Nov. 28, Feb. 14, Mar. 11, Mar. 24
By my count, the Suns have 10 sets of back-to-backs this season, including 3 in the last month alone during a stretch of 14 games in 26 days.
Working in Phoenix’s favor down the stretch, starting on Mar. 25, the Suns have no more sets of consecutive road games (roughly the final half month of the season). Also, after Mar. 14, the only game against a second-round playoff team is Mar. 25 against the Sixers, who we know Devin Booker owns.
Overall, the Suns have:
- 4 four-game road trips
- 1 five-game road trip
- 1 six-game road trip
- 2 four-game homestands
- 1 five-game homestands
- 1 six-game homestands
In continuing a trend the NBA’s had of late with baseball-style “series”, the Suns have two such stretches:
- Nov. 4 and 5 against the Portland Trailblazers, both at home
- Dec. 9 and 11 against the New Orleans Pelicans, both on the road
Don’t put me down on the record for this quite yet but I’m feelin’ somewhere around 55-ish wins on the season for the Suns, likely in the 3-5-ish range within the Western Conference.
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