The 2009-2010 NBA Schedule is Out, Less Than Three Months Until the Opening Night Tip!
NBA August 5th. 2009, 4:30pm
Break out the calendar and jot town these notes for Oct. 27: the Celtics at LeBron in his last season opener in a Cavs jersey, followed by Blake Griffin’s debut in LA against Kobe.
[That week's shaping up nicely: Monday Night Football on the 26th is the Redskins at Eagles, then the NBA season begins on TNT, Wednesday ESPN's got Chris Paul vs. the new-look Spurs , Thursday North Carolina visits Virginia Tech in what should be a battle of Top 20 teams, and then Friday West Virginia travels to South Florida in what fans can only hope is a replay of a great game two years ago.]
Christmas: LeBron and Shaq at Kobe. Shaq’s final game at Staples? And … sorry, that’s the extent of our giddiness over the NBA schedule. Tough to get frothy over the laborious 82-game trek.
With just about every relevant free agent in place, this seems as good a time as any to make our summer NBA playoff predictions. These are likely to change by the team the season begins - the heart has its reasons - but for now we’ll go with:
East
1. Magic
2. Cavaliers
3. Celtics
4. Bulls (Probably a bit high. Deng healthy, but lost Gordon, but we like D Rose that much.)
5. 76ers
6. Raptors (They’re growing on me. Slow start to ruin this; then they might trade Bosh.)
7. Pistons
8. Hawks
9. Heat
10. Wizards
The last time we said this, Jordan was playing: the East is going to be more challenging than the West next year. Sorry, we can’t boot the 76ers (regardless of your thoughts on Elton Brand), and the Raptors will have two much-improved starters and two solid reserves. But there’s no way we’ll be keeping the Heat on the outside. And the Wizards, who have the horses to lead the league in scoring, could remind folks of Golden State from a couple years ago.
West
1. Lakers
2. Spurs
3. Blazers
4. Nuggets
5. Mavericks
6. Jazz (Boozer or not, we’re tired of that storyline)
7. Clippers (if healthy, a v good starting lineup)
8. Hornets
Team we wanted to wedge in, but couldn’t boot CP3: Golden State.
Team missing: Houston. No Yao, no T-Mac for 25 games. Only two starters (Scola, Battier) return from last year’s lineup. Will be among the 10 lowest-scoring teams in the league.
2009-2010 NBA schedule highlights (ESPN)
30 Responses to “The 2009-2010 NBA Schedule is Out, Less Than Three Months Until the Opening Night Tip!”
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August 5th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
LeBron in his last season opener in a Cavs jersey
TBL, quickly becoming more hated in Cleveland than the Steelers.
August 5th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
Celtics at LeBron in his last season opener in a Cavs jersey
You always know how to suck me in TBL
August 5th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
is the NHL opening night post gonna be up after this one?
August 5th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
…asshole
August 5th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
Please. A sub-.500 team will make the playoffs in the Least yet again.
August 5th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Bulls #4? they’ll be lucky to make the playoffs
2 months
August 5th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Jebus. Vitale already has his Top 40 (really, 40? WTF?) ranking out.
August 5th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
Celtics 1, Magic 2
August 5th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
As for the early prognosticatin’:
East: Magic, Cavs, Celtics, BUlls, Sixers, Hawks, Heat, Raptors
West: Lakers, Spurs, Blazers, Nugs, Mavs, Jazz, Hornets, Warriors
August 5th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
And of course, Duke is top 5
August 5th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
Two words: prolate spheroid.
August 5th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
Please, please, please, please.
/21 days til football
Couldn’t agree more.
August 5th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
7. Clippers (if healthy, a v good starting lineup)
Really? REALLY??
August 5th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
Duke is top 5
Don’t count out the Dookies!
/Dookie V
BTW, forgot to add a sleeper pick: the Thunder, who could leap past the Hornets this year. Kevin Durant won’t be denied for too much longer.
August 5th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
Noguts -
And here is his reason… Gerald Henderson is gone, but Coach K has the dynamic duo of Kyle Singler and Jon Scheyer back.
Quite obviously, the man has finally lost it.
August 5th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
I could see OKC sneaking into the playoffs. Durant is going to win them a lot of games this year and could challenge for the scoring title.
Vitale is an idiot and the most biased broadcaster that ESPN has to offer. Even die hard Duke fans admit that this could be a tough year for them. Henderson carried them in crunch time last year and they are going to be hurting at the guard spots.
August 5th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
no its after the 4 most powerful people in delaware post
August 5th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
When do the team by team breakdowns start?
August 5th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Duder!
August 5th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
no its after the 4 most powerful people in delaware post
lol
/sad but true
August 5th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
The Suns will make the playoffs now that the shaqtus isn’t clogging the lane.
August 5th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
Sadly, I hate to agree with you. I don’t think they have anyone on that roster (even with Deng healthy) who can reliably put the ball in the bucket.
August 5th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
Damn I suck that didn’t make any sense whatsoever. It should have been just, I hate to agree with you.
August 5th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
Fail. And you really should start using the /homer tag when you make these homerific comments.
August 5th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
Furthermore the Giants will not make the playoffs
Book it Schnitz
/homer’d
August 5th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
isnt this the same roster as last year, except gordon?
August 5th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
yup, really on the clippers.
re: Cavs/Cleveland … you think this is a popularity contest? it’s just an opinion
August 5th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
LOL. Thats better.
August 5th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
and who was their most consistent scorer? Gordon. Look i’m glad they didn’t overpay for him, but I think the Bulls are a year away still from being competitive (much to my chagrin). I hope I’m wrong, but I think everyone will overhype them because of the great series they had, and they will be a dissapointment.
August 5th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
happy to see me? i dig your style.