Two-time defending champion Heat tips off NBA’s 68th season as league releases 2013-14 game and broadcast schedules

NEW YORK – The NBA today released its complete game schedule and broadcast schedules for ABC, TNT, ESPN, NBA TV, and NBA on ESPN Radio for the upcoming campaign, with the reigning two-time champion Miami Heat tipping off the league’s 2013-14 season at home against the Chicago Bulls.

The league’s 68th season begins Tuesday, Oct. 29, as part of Kia NBA Tip-Off ’13, with a TNT doubleheader, marking the 18th straight season the network has tipped off with two games on opening night. In the first game (8 p.m. ET), the Heat begins its quest for a third straight title hosting a Bulls team that welcomes back 2011 Kia NBA MVP Derrick Rose, who missed the entire 2012-13 season recovering from a knee injury. Before the game, TNT will televise the championship ring ceremony. The second game is an all-Los Angeles affair, with the Doc Rivers-led Clippers taking on the Lakers at STAPLES Center (10:30 p.m. ET).

This is the fourth consecutive s eason that Kia Motors, the Official Automotive Partner of the NBA, is the title partner of NBA Tip-Off. Kia NBA Tip-Off ’13 features a combined eight nationally televised games in the first four days on TNT, ESPN and NBA TV. ESPN opens its 12th consecutive year of NBA coverage on Friday, Nov. 1, with a doubleheader. The first game features the Heat visiting the new-look Brooklyn Nets (8 p.m. ET), followed by the San Antonio Spurs traveling to Los Angeles to play the Lakers (10:30 p.m. ET).

TNT’s coverage continues Thursday, Oct. 31, as 2012-13 NBA scoring champion Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks visit the Bulls (8 p.m. ET) at United Center, followed by the Golden State Warriors, who upset the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs, visiting the Clippers (10:30 p.m. ET).

NBA TV tips off its 97-game slate with two games on Wednesday, Oct. 30, featuring the Cleveland Cavaliers welcoming the Nets (7 p.m. ET), followed by the Lakers visiting the Warriors (10:30 p.m. ET). For the sixth consecutive year, NBA TV will feature Fan Night presented by Sprint on Tuesdays throughout the season. On Fan Night presented by Sprint, NBA fans are given the opportunity to vote on NBA.com for the games they want to see televised nationally on NBA TV on that particular night.

Highly anticipated television matchups throughout the regular season include:

  • Both games between 2013 Finals opponents will be televised nationally. The Spurs and Heat tip off an ABC doubleheader (1 p.m. ET) on Jan. 26 at AmericanAirlines Arena, with the Lakers taking on the Knicks (3:30 p.m. ET) in the second game. Miami travels to San Antonio (8 p.m. ET) on March 6, as part of a doubleheader on TNT, with the Lakers and Clippers completing the double-dip (10:30 pm. ET).
  • Long-time Boston Celtics Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett return to Boston as members of the new-look Nets under the direction of first-year Coach Jason Kidd on Jan. 26 on ESPN (6:30 p.m. ET).
  • The NBA Christmas Day slate features five games split between ABC (two) and ESPN (three). ESPN tips off the day with the Nets hosting the Bulls (12 p.m. ET), and concludes with a Christmas night doubleheader featuring Dwight Howard and the Houston Rockets visiting the Spurs (8 p.m. ET), followed by the Warriors hosting the Clippers (10:30 p.m. ET). ABC’s afternoon marquee doubleheader features the Oklahoma City Thunder visiting the Knicks (2:30 p.m. ET) followed by the Heat playing at the Lakers (5 p.m. ET).
  • This year marks the first time the NBA will stage regular-season games in two countries outside of the U.S. and Canada in the same season. The Spurs and Minnesota Timberwolves will face off in Mexico City (9:30 p.m. ET) on Dec. 4 on NBA TV. The Nets and Atlanta Hawks square off in London on Jan. 16, also on NBA TV (3 p.m. ET).
  • The Heat and Indiana Pacers, who staged an epic seven-game Eastern Conference Finals series in 2013, will square off  twice on ESPN – on Dec. 18 in Miami (7 p.m. ET), and March 26 in Indianapolis (8 p.m. ET).
  • The NBA again will celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day with a full schedule of games on Jan. 20, including four nationally televised contests. On ESPN, an intra-city matchup between the Knicks and Nets tips off at 2:30 p.m. ET.  TNT will feature an evening doubleheader beginning with the Lakers visiting the Bulls (8 p.m. ET), followed by the Pacers playing at the Warriors (10:30 p.m. ET). On NBA TV, New Orleans visits the home of the Civil Rights Museum, Memphis, at 5 p.m. ET.
  • The Thunder’s Kevin Durant, who finished second to LeBron James in the 2012-13 Kia NBA MVP vote, will square off against James and the Heat twice on national television – Jan. 29 on ESPN (7 p.m. ET) in Miami, and Feb. 20 on TNT (8 p.m. ET) in Oklahoma City.

In its 30th year of NBA coverage, TNT will televise 52 regular-season games, including 40 as part of Thursday night doubleheaders and a doubleheader on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. TNT will also exclusively televise NBA All-Star 2014 festivities in New Orleans Feb. 14-16, culminating with the NBA’s 63rd All-Star Game on Sunday, Feb. 16.

ESPN will televise 75 regular-season games, which include 41 games on Wednesdays and 28 on Fridays. ESPN telecasts are also available via WatchESPN, with nearly all on ESPN Mobile TV. ESPN Deportes (ESPN’s Spanish-language U.S. sports network) will also televise select regular-season games.  The ABC national television schedule consists of 15 exclusive regular-season broadcasts.

The NBA on ABC and ESPN, and NBA TV present flexible scheduling throughout the regular season in order to provide the most compelling matchups to a national audience.

 The NBA on ESPN Radio’s 27-game regular-season schedule begins opening night, with Chicago at Miami (8 p.m. ET). The NBA on ESPN Radio will also broadcast all the events from NBA All-Star 2014.

For the 12th straight season, ABC will exclusively broadcast The Finals, which tips off in June 2014. This season, TNT is the exclusive home of the 2014 NBA Western Conference Finals and ESPN will exclusively televise the 2014 NBA Eastern Conference Finals.

Once again, NBA LEAGUE PASS will offer up to 40 out-of-market games per week. NBA LEAGUE PASS is the ultimate viewing experience for basketball fans who want to watch their favorite teams, players and matchups from outside their local markets (blackout restrictions apply). Games included in NBA LEAGUE PASS are in addition to those available on ABC, TNT, NBA TV, ESPN, and local networks (such as a regional sports network and/or over-the-air station).  NBA LEAGUE PASS is available on DIRECTV, DISH Network, and most digital cable and telephone providers.

NBA.com offers day-by-day and team-by-team schedules as well as regular-season telecast schedules of the league’s domestic broadcast partners – ABC, ESPN, TNT, NBA TV, and the NBA on ESPN Radio. Last season, NBA games and programming were seen in 215 countries and territories in 47 languages.