Blazers release 2021-22 schedule

Published 12:00 am Friday, August 20, 2021

We don’t know exactly who will be on the floor, but the Portland Trail Blazers know their schedule.

Their 2021-22 schedule was released on Friday. The Blazers open the season Oct. 20 against Sacramento at Moda Center, followed by a home game against Phoenix (Oct. 23) and their first road game at Los Angeles Clippers (Oct. 25).

All 82 Trail Blazers games will be televised by ROOT Sports, the new television home of the Portland Trail Blazers, or on national carriers. Portland is scheduled to have five games on TNT, four games on ESPN, and seven games on NBATV. All games will also be aired on flagship station Rip City Radio AM-620 and the Deschutes Brewery Trail Blazers Radio Network.

The Trail Blazers will take on 10 of 14 Western Conference opponents twice at home and twice on the road, while playing Dallas, Golden State, New Orleans and Sacramento only three times apiece. Of those matchups, the Trail Blazers host Dallas and Sacramento twice, and Golden State and New Orleans once. The team will face each Eastern Conference opponent once at home and once on the road.

Among the exciting matchups at Moda Center in 2021-22: the L.A. Lakers come to town on Nov. 6 and Feb. 9; Brooklyn visits on Dec. 23; the defending NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks appear in Portland on Feb. 5; and Golden State makes its lone trip to the Rose City on Feb. 24.

Portland’s longest road trip of the season is a six-game, cross-country journey that starts in Denver on Jan. 13 with stops in Washington D.C. (Jan. 15), Orlando on Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Jan. 17), Miami (Jan. 19) and Boston (Jan. 21) before concluding in Toronto on Jan. 23.

Four of the Trail Blazers first five games will be played at Moda Center, contributing to a home-heavy first half of the season, which features 25 of 41 contests in Portland. The balance shifts in the second half of the season, despite two five-game stints at home from Feb. 4-12 and March 23-30 that mark the longest homestands of the season.

Portland will close out the regular season at home on Sunday, April 10 against Utah.

The Blazers have added some players — Tony Snell, Cody Zeller, Ben McLemore, rookie Greg Brown — and retained others (including Norman Powell), while losing others (Carmelo Anthony, Enes Kanter).

But, what other moves could be made before training camp opens? Does the team return with both Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum in the backcourt?

For more: http://www.trailblazers.com.