Trail Blazers Announce Full 2023-24 Regular-Season Schedule

Between late October and mid April, the Trail Blazers will play 82 games. 41 of them will be in Portland and 41 will be on the road. They will play every Eastern Conference team twice, and every Western Conference team either three or four times. (They may also play an 83rd game if they make the final of the In-Season Tournament. That one would be in Las Vegas.)

That’s the information that the NBA spent multiple days this week building up to. They got one TV special out of the release of the In-Season Tournament schedule earlier this week and now, after another two days of waiting and a second TV special, we know the exact dates and locations of most of the rest of those 82 games, depending on how the tournament shakes out.

Here are some notes and things that jump out to me after seeing the Blazers’ full schedule:

TAKEAWAYS & NOTABLE GAMES

• The Blazers’ season opener will be on the road against the Clippers on Oct. 25. I probably won’t do a ton of road travel this season (it’s expensive when you’re doing this by yourself), but I’ll be making the flight to Los Angeles for that one. Can’t miss Scoot Henderson’s NBA debut.
• Henderson’s first matchup against Victor Wembanyama in the NBA will happen when the Spurs come to Portland for a back-to-back on Dec. 28 and 29. This will be the first time they’ve played each other since last October’s legendary G League Ignite/Metropolitans 92 exhibition game in Las Vegas. They were supposed to face off again last month at Summer League but Henderson was injured.
• Henderson doesn’t play against No. 2 overall pick Brandon Miller until after the All-Star break, when the Hornets come to Portland on Feb. 25.
• Immediately following Oct. 27’s home opener against Orlando, the Blazers have a three-game east-coast road swing that kicks off in Philadelphia. The way things are going, there’s a non-zero chance both Damian Lillard and James Harden will be playing in that game, which would be hilarious given how their trade requests have been the two dominant storylines of this offseason. (This will depend on whether Harden actually plays or if he holds out. Lillard will play if he’s on the team.)
• The Miami Heat make their only visit to Portland of the season on Feb. 27, notably after the Feb. 8 trade deadline. If—if—Lillard is ultimately traded to Miami like he wants, this will be one of the most anticipated games in recent Blazers history, his first time ever playing in Portland as a visiting player.
• That home game against Miami will be on TNT. As of now, it’s the only nationally televised game the Blazers will have all season, unless you count a handful of games on NBA TV (which I don’t). I’m not surprised they don’t have many of them, since most people think Lillard will be traded at some point and thus they’ll be entering a rebuild. But I’m a little surprised one of those two Scoot-Wemby games in December won’t be on ESPN or TNT, considering how much buzz their exhibition game last fall generated.
• The Blazers play Detroit at home on the night of the deadline after having the previous three nights off, minimizing the chances of a repeat of what happened last year the night before the deadline, with Josh Hart being pulled off the floor five minutes before tipoff.
• 14 back-to-backs: seven home-home, five road-road and two road-home.
• Portland will have two separate seven-game road trips, easily their toughest stretches of the season from both a travel and opponent standpoint. They kick off January with a trek that includes Phoenix, two games in Dallas, both New York teams, Oklahoma City and Minnesota, and then close out March with an east-coast trip that includes three playoff teams in Atlanta, Miami and Boston (plus Orlando, depending on how high you are on them).
• In addition to the home back-to-back against San Antonio in December, the Blazers have six other “baseball series” of two games against the same team in the same city, which the NBA has been scheduling more of since the pandemic to minimize travel. They play Memphis twice in a row at home in early November, twice in Dallas on the monster January road trip, twice in Denver in early February, twice at home against Minnesota right before the All-Star break, twice in Memphis at the beginning of March and twice at home against the Clippers later in that month. Ja Morant will still be serving his 25-game suspension during the Grizzlies’ two early games in Portland; he should be back by the two games in March in Memphis.
• The defending champion Denver Nuggets don’t visit Portland until after the All-Star break.
• I have no idea if LeBron James plans to play beyond this coming season. But going into year 21 in his age-39 season, it has to be at least in the back of your mind that Nov. 17 might be your last chance to see LeBron in Portland.

The Blazers’ full 2023-24 schedule is below, broken out by month (all times Pacific). Unless noted, all games are on ROOT Sports.

PRESEASON

• Tuesday, Oct. 10: New Zealand Breakers (Moda Center, 7 p.m.)
• Thursday, Oct. 12: Phoenix (Moda Center, 7 p.m.)
• Saturday, Oct. 14: at Utah (Delta Center, 6 p.m.)
• Monday, Oct. 16: at Phoenix (Footprint Center, 6 p.m.)

OCTOBER 2023

• Wednesday, Oct. 25: at L.A. Clippers (Crypto.com Arena 7:30 p.m.)
• Friday, Oct. 27: Orlando (Moda Center, 7 p.m.)
• Sunday, Oct. 29: at Philadelphia (Wells Fargo Center, 4:30 p.m.)
• Monday, Oct. 30: at Toronto (Scotiabank Arena, 4:30 p.m.)

NOVEMBER 2023

• Wednesday, Nov. 1: at Detroit (Little Caesars Arena, 4 p.m.)
• Friday, Nov. 3: Memphis (Moda Center, 7 p.m.) - Tournament game
• Sunday, Nov. 5: Memphis (Moda Center, 6 p.m.)
• Wednesday, Nov. 8: at Sacramento (Golden 1 Center, 7 p.m.)
• Sunday, Nov. 12: at L.A. Lakers (Crypto.com Arena, 7 p.m.)
• Tuesday, Nov. 14: at Utah (Delta Center, 6 p.m.) - Tournament game
• Wednesday, Nov. 15: Cleveland (Moda Center, 7 p.m.)
• Friday, Nov. 17: L.A. Lakers (Moda Center, 7 p.m.) - Tournament game
• Sunday, Nov. 19: Oklahoma City (Moda Center, 6 p.m.)
• Tuesday, Nov. 21: at Phoenix (Footprint Center, 6 p.m.) - Tournament game
• Wednesday, Nov. 22: Utah (Moda Center, 7 p.m.)
• Sunday, Nov. 26: at Milwaukee (Fiserv Forum, 11:30 a.m.)
• Monday, Nov. 27: at Indiana (Gainbridge Fieldhouse, 4 p.m.)
• Thursday, Nov. 30: at Cleveland (Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, 4 p.m.)

DECEMBER 2023

• Saturday, Dec. 2: at Utah (Delta Center, 6:30 p.m.)
• Monday, Dec. 4-Saturday, Dec. 9: In-Season Tournament knockout rounds (dates and matchups TBD)
• Monday, Dec. 11: at L.A. Clippers (Crypto.com Arena, 7:30 p.m.)
• Thursday, Dec. 14: Utah (Moda Center, 7 p.m.)
• Saturday, Dec. 16: Dallas (Moda Center, 6 p.m.)
• Sunday, Dec. 17: Golden State (Moda Center, 6 p.m.)
• Tuesday, Dec. 19: Phoenix (Moda Center, 7 p.m.)
• Thursday, Dec. 21: Washington (Moda Center, 7 p.m., NBA TV)
• Saturday, Dec. 23: at Golden State (Chase Center, 5:30 p.m.)
• Monday, Dec. 26: Sacramento (Moda Center, 7 p.m.)
• Wednesday, Dec. 28: San Antonio (Moda Center, 7 p.m.)
• Thursday, Dec. 29: San Antonio (Moda Center, 7 p.m.)

JANUARY 2024

• Monday, Jan. 1: at Phoenix (Footprint Center, 6 p.m.)
• Wednesday, Jan. 3: at Dallas (American Airlines Center, 5:30 p.m.)
• Friday, Jan. 5: at Dallas (American Airlines Center, 5:30 p.m.)
• Sunday, Jan. 7: at Brooklyn (Barclays Center, 12 p.m.)
• Tuesday, Jan. 9: at New York (Madison Square Garden, 4 p.m.)
• Thursday, Jan. 11: at Oklahoma City (Paycom Center, 5 p.m.)
• Friday, Jan. 12: at Minnesota (Target Center, 5 p.m.)
• Sunday, Jan. 14: Phoenix (Moda Center, 6 p.m.)
• Wednesday, Jan. 17: Brooklyn (Moda Center, 7 p.m.)
• Friday, Jan. 19: Indiana (Moda Center, 7 p.m.)
• Sunday, Jan. 21: at L.A. Lakers (Crypto.com Arena, 7 p.m.)
• Tuesday, Jan. 23: at Oklahoma City (Paycom Center, 5 p.m.)
• Wednesday, Jan. 24: at Houston (Toyota Center, 5 p.m.)
• Friday, Jan. 26: at San Antonio (AT&T Center, 6:30 p.m., NBA TV)
• Sunday, Jan. 28: Chicago (Moda Center, 6 p.m.)
• Monday, Jan. 29: Philadelphia (Moda Center, 7 p.m., NBA TV)
• Wednesday, Jan. 31: Milwaukee (Moda Center, 7 p.m.)

FEBRUARY 2024

• Friday, Feb. 2: at Denver (Ball Arena, 6 p.m.)
• Sunday, Feb. 4: at Denver (Ball Arena, 5:30 p.m., NBA TV)
• Thursday, Feb. 8: Detroit (Moda Center, 7 p.m.)
• Saturday, Feb. 10: New Orleans (Moda Center, 7 p.m.)
• Tuesday, Feb. 13: Minnesota (Moda Center, 7 p.m.)
• Thursday, Feb. 15: Minnesota (Moda Center, 7 p.m.)
• Friday, Feb. 16-Sunday, Feb. 18: NBA All-Star Weekend (Indianapolis)
• Friday, Feb. 23: Denver (Moda Center, 7 p.m.)
• Sunday, Feb. 25: Charlotte (Moda Center, 6 p.m.)
• Tuesday, Feb. 27: Miami (Moda Center, 7 p.m., TNT)

MARCH 2024

• Friday, Mar. 1: at Memphis (FedEx Forum, 5 p.m.)
• Saturday, Mar. 2: at Memphis (FedEx Forum, 5 p.m.)
• Monday, Mar. 4: at Minnesota (Target Center, 5 p.m.)
• Wednesday, Mar. 6: Oklahoma City (Moda Center, 7 p.m.)
• Friday, Mar. 8: Houston (Moda Center, 7 p.m.)
• Saturday, Mar. 9: Toronto (Moda Center, 7 p.m.)
• Monday, Mar. 11: Boston (Moda Center, 7:30 p.m., NBA TV)
• Wednesday, Mar. 13: Atlanta (Moda Center, 7 p.m.)
• Thursday, Mar. 14: New York (Moda Center, 7 p.m.)
• Saturday, Mar. 16: at New Orleans (Smoothie King Center, 4 p.m.)
• Monday, Mar. 18: at Chicago (United Center, 5 p.m.)
• Wednesday, Mar. 20: L.A. Clippers (Moda Center, 7 p.m.)
• Friday, Mar. 22: L.A. Clippers (Moda Center, 7 p.m.)
• Saturday, Mar. 23: Denver (Moda Center, 7 p.m.)
• Monday, Mar. 25: at Houston (Toyota Center, 5 p.m.)
• Wednesday, Mar. 27: at Atlanta (State Farm Arena, 4:30 p.m.)
• Friday, Mar. 29: at Miami (Kaysea Center, 5 p.m.)

APRIL 2024

• Monday, Apr. 1: at Orlando (Amway Arena, 4 p.m.)
• Wednesday, Apr. 3: at Charlotte (Spectrum Center, 4 p.m.)
• Friday, Apr. 5: at Washington (Capital One Arena, 4 p.m.)
• Sunday, Apr. 7: at Boston (TD Garden, 3 p.m.)
• Tuesday, Apr. 9: New Orleans (Moda Center, 7 p.m.)
• Thursday, Apr. 11: Golden State (Moda Center, 7 p.m.)
• Friday, Apr. 12: Houston (Moda Center, 7 p.m.)
• Sunday, Apr. 14: at Sacramento (Golden 1 Center, 12:30 p.m.)