Breaking down the Miami Heat’s 2022-23 schedule

The 2022-23 NBA Schedule was released Wednesday, let’s break it down from the Heat’s perspective, shall we!

First off, the Heat tip-off the 82-game campaign with the Chicago Bulls on Oct. 19, followed by a rematch of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics on Oct. 21 — both home games for Miami.

In fact, Miami will start with four straight at FTX Arena — capped by two back-to-back against the Toronto Raptors — but it will then have its first (brief) west coast trip against the Portland Trail Blazers, reigning champion Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings.

It follows by playing six of its next eight at FTX Arena — those being against the aforementioned Warriors, Kings, Indiana Pacers, Blazers, Charlotte Hornets (back-to-back) and Phoenix Suns on Nov. 14.

The will then have 12 of its next 15 on the road from Nov. 16-Dec. 17, including (not in order) two against the Celtics (back-to-back), one against the Raptors, Cleveland Cavaliers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Washington Wizards, Atlanta Hawks, Memphis Grizzlies, Pacers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets and capped-off by the San Antonio Spurs in Mexico City on Dec. 17.

Miami’s longest road stretch of the season will be on West Coast for five games in from Dec. 30 to Jan. 6, playing against the Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers and the Phoenix Suns.

Two of its 11 total nationally-televised games (not including NBA TV) will be those two road matchups against Lakers (Jan. 4) and Suns (Jan. 6), both on ESPN. Miami will have five other games on the ESPN/ABC Networks — the first being its ECF rematch against Boston.

Here are those seven, with six being on ESPN:

• vs. Celtics (Oct. 21)
• @ Lakers (Jan. 4)
• @ Suns (Jan. 6)
• vs. Bucks (Jan. 14) — ABC
• @ Mavs (Jan. 20)
• @ Nets (Feb. 15)
• @ Bucks (Feb. 24)

In addition, the Heat will have four additional games on TNT and 11 on NBA TV. Here are those:

• @ Warriors (Oct. 27) — NBA TV
• @ Celtics (Nov. 30) — NBA TV
• vs. Clippers (Dec. 8) — NBA TV
• @ Spurs (Dec. 17) — NBA TV
• vs. Lakers (Dec. 28) — NBA TV
• @ Hawks (Jan. 16) — TNT
• vs. Celtics (Jan. 24) — TNT
• vs. Nuggets (Feb. 13) — NBA TV
• @ Philadelphia 76ers (Feb. 27) — NBA TV
• vs. Hawks (March 6) — NBA TV
• vs. Cavaliers (March 10) — NBA TV
• vs. Brooklyn Nets (March 25) — NBA TV
• @ Raptors (March 28) — TNT
• vs. Dallas Mavericks (April 1) — NBA TV
• @ Sixers (April 6) — TNT

According to the Heat press release, they will have 37 of their 82 games played on weekends (Friday through Sunday) — 17 will be in Miami (seven on Friday, seven on Saturday and three on Sunday). The Heat will conclude the 2022-23 season at home against the Orlando Magic on Sunday, April 9 at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Here is the full 2022-23 slate:

via the Miami Heat Twitter Page

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Here are a few other observations to note:

• P.J. Tucker is set to return to South Beach on March 1, the second of back-to-back games against the Sixers.

• Speaking of March 1 — the Heat begin their longest stretch at FTX Arena then. In addition to Philly, it will play the New York Knicks, plus two back-to-backs against the Hawks and Cavs.
• Bally Sports Sun will televise five preseason and 77 regular season games.
• The Heat will have 14 back-to-backs, including four in March alone. They will also face the same opponent for two straight games eight separate times.
• Miami closes the season with seven of their final 11 away from home — against Chicago, Detroit (twice), Toronto, Knicks, Sixers and Wizards.
• The Heat will play 16 of its first 24 games (10 teams) were above .500 last season; Eight of those teams (making up 13 games) made the playoffs and five (8 games) were top-4 seeds. That doesn’t mean those teams will be better this season (they might!), but something to monitor.
• Per Positiveresidual.com, the Heat have just seven games with rest advantages, tied for the fourth-fewest in the Association. Miami will have the 12th-easiest schedule, too, according to the same site.