Knicks to have 16 nationally televised appearances; Nets get 13
Knicks guard RJ Barrett controls the ball against the Cavaliers in the first half of an NBA game at Madison Square Garden on April 2. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
While the Knicks roster may still be a mystery with the team being the subject of trade rumors centered around Utah’s All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell, the schedule is set. And perhaps not coincidentally it includes a nationally televised matchup with the Jazz.
The Knicks will open the season on the road in Memphis on Oct. 19 and then head home for three straight games, starting with the Detroit Pistons on Oct. 21. While the most eye-raising date on the schedule is seeing that TNT has picked up the Knicks game at Utah on Nov. 15, the Knicks return game that already is set on the roster is when Jalen Brunson and the Knicks head to Dallas on Dec. 27 to face Brunson’s former team, the Mavericks.
The Knicks are scheduled to appear on ESPN nine times, including the season-opener at Memphis, TNT three times, ABC once and three times on NBA TV. The Knicks will host the Philadelphia 76ers in a Christmas Day game at noon and will play for the 24th consecutive season on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, hosting the Toronto Raptors on Jan.16 at 3 p.m.
The Knicks will finish the regular season at home on Easter Sunday, April 9, They will play 12 sets of back-to-back games — four with no travel, including a two-games in three-nights set at Chicago on Dec. 14 and 16, part of the NBA’s push to reduce travel for teams. The Knicks' longest road trip comes in November when they play five games in seven nights — starting in Utah, with Denver, Golden State, Phoenix and Oklahoma City to follow.
And while the Knicks have the 16 nationally televised appearances, the Nets with the uncertainty surrounding their stars, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, have seven games on ESPN, one on ABC, five on TNT and 10 on NBA TV. Last season the Nets appeared on ESPN, ABC and TNT 26 times — and that figure was cut in half, to just 13 — this season.
The Nets will travel to Philadelphia for a Nov. 22 game against the 76ers — which, if he plays, would mark the first appearance back in Philadelphia for Ben Simmons after he pushed his way off the 76ers in a trade that sent James Harden to Philadelphia.
Brooklyn will open the season at home against New Orleans, which could mark a return to action for Zion Williamson.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
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