3 September 2023
The Nets’ 2023-24 regular-season schedule is finally here.
The Nets will open their season at home against Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday, Oct. 25 at Barclays Center. They will then embark on a four-game road trip — at Dallas, Charlotte, Miami and Chicago — before returning to the borough for a hellacious, early-season three-game homestand against the Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Clippers.
Three bona fide championship contenders to test the Nets in the opening weeks of the season.
Of the Nets’ first 19 games of the season, four will be In-Season Tournament Group Play games that determine the seeding for the NBA’s new In-Season Tournament: Nov. 3 against the Chicago Bulls, Nov. 10 in Boston against the Celtics, Nov. 14 at home against the Orlando Magic, and Nov. 28 in Brooklyn against the Toronto Raptors.
The In-Season Tournament Knockout Rounds stretch from Dec. 4-9.
The Nets do not play on Christmas Day, Christmas Eve or New Year’s Day, but they are scheduled to spend New Year’s Eve in Oklahoma City for a matchup against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder.
Brooklyn’s schedule features 14 sets of back-to-back games and a particularly taxing series of four games in six nights in late December. The Nets have six road trips of at least four games, the longest a six-game road trip in mid-March that starts in Detroit and travels through Charlotte, Cleveland, Orlando, Indiana and San Antonio. The Nets then only return to Barclays Center for one game before embarking on another four-game road trip: a 20-day stretch with only one game at home.
The Nets also have three sets of back-to-back games during a two-week stretch in the month of March. They play eight games in 13 days, including back-to-backs against the Grizzlies and 76ers (March 4-5), on the road against the Hornets and Cavaliers (March 9-10) and again on the road against the Pacers and Spurs (March 16-17).
The Nets end their regular season with two divisional rival matchups: at Madison Square Garden against the Knicks before the finale in Philadelphia against Ben Simmons’ former 76ers team.
As for blasts from the past, Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson will face off against Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and the superteam Phoenix Suns twice this season: in Phoenix on Dec. 13, and at home on Jan. 31.
The Nets have 11 games scheduled to be aired on national television and only five set to air on a channel other than NBA TV: in Boston on ESPN on Nov. 10 against the Celtics; at home against the Knicks on TNT on Jan. 23; Kevin Durant’s return to Brooklyn on ESPN on Jan. 31; Kyrie Irving’s return to Barclays Center on TNT on Feb. 6; and a March 10 matchup in Cleveland against Spida Mitchell, former Nets big man Jarrett Allen, and former Nets star Caris LeVert, set to be aired on ESPN.
Eight of Brooklyn’s first 10 opponents project to be playoff contenders, with the four-game stretch against Boston, Milwaukee, the Clippers and Celtics projecting as one of the Nets’ toughest slates of the season. They also have a five-game mid-December West Coast road trip right after the In-Season Tournament against four championship contenders — the Kings, Suns, Nuggets and Warriors — followed by a road-trip finale against the Utah Jazz.
The Nets will likely need to at least finish the regular season with a .500, 41-41 record to qualify for the Play-In Tournament, and will need a stronger record to secure the Eastern Conference’s sixth seed. With the Bucks, Celtics, Heat, 76ers, Hawks and the Knicks all vying for the same seeds, the Nets will have their work cut out for them to finish the regular season in the Top 6 of the conference.
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