Trail Blazers Announce 2024-25 Regular Season Schedule
Trail Blazers Announce 2024-25 Regular Season Schedule
Takeaways and a month-by-month breakdown of the Blazers' schedule for the upcoming season.
If you’re like me and a lot of other NBA fans and have mobile notifications on for the national newsbreakers, you’ve gotten bits and pieces of the league’s 2024-25 regular-season schedule over the past week. Each bit of it—the Christmas games, opening night, certain returns of star players to face their former teams, none of which involve the rebuilding Trail Blazers—is another opportunity for a scoop and some retweets, all while the NBA and one of their TV partners build up to a schedule-release special where they’re probably going to mostly talk about the Lakers.
The whole thing falls under the category of “prolonged rollouts that could have been an email.” Fortunately for you, as a subscriber, it now is an email, which you are reading as we speak, that includes everything you need to know about who the Blazers are playing and when from October to April.
Takeaways and notable games
Not surprisingly for a team that won 21 games last season and doesn’t figure to be much better this year, the Blazers only have one nationally televised game (meaning a game on ESPN or TNT; I don’t count NBA TV). Also not surprisingly, that game is Damian Lillard’s lone visit to Portland with the Bucks, which will air on TNT on Jan. 28. It was very amusing last August when the schedule was released and Portland’s only nationally televised game was against Miami, because Lillard had made it known he only wanted to be traded there and the league office assumed it would end up happening. As we now know, the Blazers and Heat never even talked in any real way about a trade and the schedule-makers had to scramble when Lillard was dealt to Milwaukee, picking that game up for ESPN and dropping the Miami game from TNT. There will be none of that uncertainty this year.
After two years in a row starting the season on the road, the Blazers open with three games at home this year. They face the Warriors on Oct. 23 and Pelicans twice in a row on Oct. 25 and 27 before heading out on their first road trip of the season.
Will Terry Stotts get a tribute video when the Warriors visit on opening night? That will be his first time coaching in Portland, as one of Steve Kerr’s newly hired assistants, since he was let go in 2021 after nine seasons as the Blazers’ head coach. Judging from fan reaction to Stotts’ filmed congratulations message for Lillard two years ago when he became the franchise’s all-time leading scorer, he’s still very well-liked here.
The Blazers have 13 back-to-backs: six road-road, four home-home, and three home-road. Last year, they had 14.
The early part of their schedule is a gauntlet: 27 of their first 29 games are against other Western Conference teams (all of whom except maybe Utah are going into the season trying to win), and 16 of their first 18 are part of three-games-in-four-nights stretches.
Their longest road trip of the season is seven games, from late February to early March. It starts out with three likely deep lottery teams (Utah, Washington, Brooklyn), followed by four contenders (Cleveland, Philadelphia, Boston and Oklahoma City). Last year, they had two-separate seven-game trips, including a truly horrific 1-6 showing at the beginning of January. Only one such trip this year is an improvement. They also have two five-gamers, one in January and one in late March/early April. But overall, a much more balanced schedule.
In the past few years in an effort to reduce travel, the NBA has started scheduling so-called “baseball series,” where teams knock out both of their games in a city in one trip. The Blazers have five of those this year: at home against New Orleans (Oct. 25-27), Minnesota (Nov. 12-13) and Phoenix (Feb. 1-3), and on the road in Houston (Nov. 22-23) and Denver (Feb. 10-12).
The missing two games of the season will be scheduled after it is known which teams make the knockout round of the Emirates NBA Cup. Teams that don’t make the knockout stage will each get two additional games scheduled, one at home and one away. Nothing is guaranteed, but the league has said that, whenever possible, they will attempt to schedule those games between teams that only play each other three times in the regular schedule. To that end, the Western Conference teams the Blazers are only scheduled to visit once are Phoenix, Golden State and Memphis, and the teams that only come to Portland once are San Antonio, Houston and the Clippers. (I’m personally rooting for the Spurs to be the added home game, to get an extra chance to see Victor Wembanyama in person.)
Visiting players and teams I immediately circled as looking forward to seeing: Wembanyama on April 6, the Timberwolves twice in November, the Nuggets right before Christmas, the defending champion Celtics in March, Luka Doncic and the Mavericks twice in December, and the new-look Sixers with Paul George to close out the calendar year of 2024.
Your annual “This might be your last chance to see LeBron James in Portland” PSA: the Lakers visit right after the All-Star break on Feb. 20, and again on the very last day of the regular season. (I don’t think this will be James’ last season, mainly because if it was, Nike would have already announced a year-long farewell tour campaign. But he turns 40 this December. You never know.)
The Blazers’ full 2024-25 schedule is below, broken out by month (all times Pacific). As far as where and how you’ll be able to watch them—we found out this week it won’t be on ROOT Sports. They should announce a new TV partner soon.
Preseason
✈️ Friday, Oct. 11: at L.A. Clippers (Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, 7 p.m.)
✈️ Sunday, Oct. 13: at Sacramento (3 p.m., Golden 1 Center)
🏠 Wednesday, Oct. 16: vs. Ratiopharm Ulm (7 p.m., Moda Center)
🏠 Friday, Oct. 18: vs. Utah (7 p.m., Moda Center)
October
🏠 Wednesday, Oct. 23: vs. Golden State (7 p.m., Moda Center)
🏠 Friday, Oct. 25: vs. New Orleans (7 p.m., Moda Center)
🏠 Sunday, Oct. 27: vs. New Orleans (3 p.m., Moda Center
✈️ Monday, Oct. 28: at Sacramento (7 p.m., Golden 1 Center)
✈️ Wednesday, Oct. 30: at L.A. Clippers (7:30 p.m., Intuit Dome)
November
🏠 Friday, Nov. 1: vs. Oklahoma City (7 p.m., Moda Center)
✈️ Saturday, Nov. 2: at Phoenix (7 p.m., Footprint Center)
✈️ Monday, Nov. 4: at New Orleans (6:30 p.m., Smoothie King Center)
✈️ Thursday, Nov. 7: at San Antonio (5 p.m., Frost Bank Center)
✈️ Friday, Nov. 8: at Minnesota (5 p.m., Target Center)
🏠 Sunday, Nov. 10: vs. Memphis (3 p.m., Moda Center)
🏆 Tuesday, Nov. 12: vs. Minnesota (7 p.m., Moda Center) — Emirates NBA Cup
🏠 Wednesday, Nov. 13: vs. Minnesota (7 p.m., Moda Center)
🏠 Sunday, Nov. 17: vs. Atlanta (3 p.m., Moda Center)
✈️ Wednesday, Nov. 20: at Oklahoma City (5 p.m., Paycom Center)
🏆 Friday, Nov. 22: at Houston (5 p.m., Toyota Center) — Emirates NBA Cup
✈️ Saturday, Nov. 23: at Houston (5 p.m., Toyota Center)
✈️ Monday, Nov. 25: at Memphis (5 p.m., FedEx Forum)
✈️ Wednesday, Nov. 27: at Indiana (4 p.m., Gainbridge Fieldhouse)
🏆 Friday, Nov. 29: vs. Sacramento (7 p.m., Moda Center) — Emirates NBA Cup
December
🏠 Sunday, Dec. 1: vs. Dallas (6 p.m., Moda Center)
🏆 Tuesday, Dec. 3: at L.A. Clippers (7:30 p.m., Intuit Dome) — Emirates NBA Cup
🏠 Friday, Dec. 6: vs. Utah (7 p.m., Moda Center)
🏠 Sunday, Dec. 8: at L.A. Lakers (6:30 p.m., Crypto.com Arena)
🏆 Tuesday, Dec. 10-Monday, Dec. 16: Emirates NBA Cup knockout games or consolation games (Dates and opponents TBD)
🏆 Saturday, Dec. 14-Tuesday, Dec. 17: Emirates NBA Cup semifinals and championship game (T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas)
🏠 Thursday, Dec. 19: vs. Denver (7 p.m., Moda Center)
✈️ Saturday, Dec. 21: at San Antonio (5 p.m., Frost Bank Center)
✈️ Monday, Dec. 23: at Dallas (5:30 p.m., American Airlines Center)
🏠 Thursday, Dec. 26: vs. Utah (7 p.m., Moda Center)
🏠 Saturday, Dec. 28: vs. Dallas (7 p.m., Moda Center)
🏠 Monday, Dec. 30: vs. Philadelphia (7 p.m., Moda Center)
January
✈️ Thursday, Jan. 2: at L.A. Lakers (7:30 p.m., Crypto.com Arena)
✈️ Saturday, Jan. 4: at Milwaukee (2 p.m., Fiserv Forum)
✈️ Monday, Jan. 6: at Detroit (4 p.m., Little Caesars Arena)
✈️ Wednesday, Jan. 8: at New Orleans (5 p.m., Smoothie King Center)
✈️ Thursday, Jan. 9: at Dallas (5:30 p.m., American Airlines Center)
🏠 Saturday, Jan. 11: vs. Miami (7 p.m., Moda Center)
🏠 Tuesday, Jan. 14: vs. Brooklyn (7 p.m., Moda Center)
🏠 Thursday, Jan. 16: vs. L.A. Clippers (7 p.m., Moda Center)
🏠 Saturday, Jan. 18: vs. Houston (7 p.m., Moda Center)
🏠 Sunday, Jan. 19: vs. Chicago (6 p.m., Moda Center)
✈️ Tuesday, Jan. 21: at Miami (4:30 p.m., Kaseya Center)
✈️ Thursday, Jan. 23: at Orlando (4 p.m., Kia Center)
✈️ Friday, Jan. 24: at Charlotte (4 p.m., Spectrum Center)
🏠 Sunday, Jan. 26: vs. Oklahoma City (3 p.m., Moda Center)
🏠 Tuesday, Jan. 28: vs. Milwaukee (7 p.m., Moda Center) — TNT
🏠 Thursday, Jan. 30: vs. Orlando (7 p.m., Moda Center)
February
🏠 Saturday, Feb. 1: vs. Phoenix (7 p.m., Moda Center)
🏠 Monday, Feb. 3: vs. Phoenix (7 p.m., Moda Center)
🏠 Thursday, Feb. 6: vs. Sacramento (7 p.m., Moda Center)
✈️ Saturday, Feb. 8: at Minnesota (5 p.m., Target Center)
✈️ Monday, Feb. 10: at Denver (6 p.m., Ball Arena)
✈️ Wednesday, Feb. 12: at Denver (6 p.m., Ball Arena)
⭐ Friday, Feb. 14-Sunday, Feb. 16: NBA All-Star Weekend (Chase Center, San Francisco)
🏠 Thursday, Feb. 20: vs. L.A. Lakers (7 p.m., Moda Center)
🏠 Saturday, Feb. 22: vs. Charlotte (7 p.m., Moda Center)
✈️ Monday, Feb. 24: at Utah (6 p.m., Delta Center)
✈️ Wednesday, Feb. 26: at Washington (4 p.m., Capital One Arena)
✈️ Friday, Feb. 28: at Brooklyn (4:30 p.m., Barclays Center)
March
✈️ Sunday, March 2: at Cleveland (3 p.m., Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse)
✈️ Monday, March 3: at Philadelphia (4 p.m., Wells Fargo Center)
✈️ Wednesday, March 5: at Boston (4:30 p.m., TD Garden)
✈️ Friday, March 7: at Oklahoma City (5 p.m., Paycom Center)
🏠 Sunday, March 9: vs. Detroit (6 p.m., Moda Center)
✈️ Monday, March 10: at Golden State (7 p.m., Chase Center)
🏠 Wednesday, March 12: vs. New York (7 p.m., Moda Center)
🏠 Sunday, March 16: vs. Toronto (3 p.m., Moda Center)
🏠 Tuesday, March 18: vs. Washington (7 p.m., Moda Center)
🏠 Wednesday, March 19: vs. Memphis (7 p.m., Moda Center)
🏠 Friday, March 21: vs. Denver (7 p.m., Moda Center)
🏠 Sunday, March 23: vs. Boston (3 p.m., Moda Center)
🏠 Tuesday, March 25: vs. Cleveland (7 p.m., Moda Center)
✈️ Thursday, March 27: at Sacramento (7 p.m., Golden 1 Center)
✈️ Sunday, March 30: at New York (12:30 p.m., Madison Square Garden)
April
✈️ Tuesday, April 1: at Atlanta (4:30 p.m., State Farm Arena)
✈️ Thursday, April 3: at Toronto (4:30 p.m., Scotiabank Arena)
✈️ Friday, April 4: at Chicago (5 p.m., United Center)
🏠 Sunday, April 6: vs. San Antonio (3 p.m., Moda Center)
✈️ Wednesday, April 9: at Utah (6 p.m., Delta Center)
🏠 Friday, April 11: vs. Golden State (7 p.m., Moda Center)
🏠 Sunday, April 13: vs. L.A. Lakers (12:30 p.m., Moda Center)
I liked the emojis next to the games. Made it easy to find which is home vs away game (plus All Star weekend & in-season tournament)