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Thursday was another significant day for NBA fans, as the league unveiled the schedules for all 30 teams, consisting of 80 out of the 82 regular-season games each team will compete in. The remaining two games will be determined based on the outcomes of the Emirates NBA Cup (formerly known as the In-Season Tournament), specifically impacting Week 8 of the schedule.

Twenty-eight of the 30 teams will play two games that count for fantasy (and league record) purposes during that week, with eight advancing to the quarterfinals on December 10 and 11 and the other 22 playing games against opponents that the league will determine. The semifinals will be played on December 14 in Las Vegas. Also, there is a bit of a twist that will be of interest to fantasy managers who have Knicks or Raptors players rostered.

Those two teams will meet on Monday, December 9, in a game that is not part of the NBA Cup. That means the Knicks and Raptors will play three games that count toward fantasy basketball that week, while the rest of the league gets two. The championship game is scheduled for Tuesday, December 17, and that game will (as was the case last season) not count toward league win/loss records or statistics.

Here are some takeaways from the schedule reveal and how fantasy basketball will be impacted.

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- The champion Celtics only play 13 back-to-backs

The league average for back-to-backs per team rose slightly compared to last season, with that number moving up to 14.9. One team that came in below that number is Boston, which will have 13 back-to-backs to navigate. That will be important for the team's frontcourt, as Kristaps Porzingis will miss 5-6 months after undergoing left leg surgery this summer. Add that Al Horford did not play both ends of any back-to-backs last season, and the veteran center's fantasy value may have been preserved to a certain extent. Luke Kornet and Xavier Tillman Sr. will have added value on nights when Porzingis and Horford are unavailable.

- Eleven teams are scheduled to play 16 back-to-backs

Eleven teams will play 16 back-to-backs, and the Clippers may be the most concerning fantasy-wise due to Kawhi Leonard's medical history. He did play in 68 regular-season games in 2023-24, but lingering knee issues ultimately sidelined him for the stretch run. With Paul George no longer in the picture, Leonard staying healthy is of even greater importance to a team that hopes to contend in the West. Having a new arena to call their own may not have given the Clippers the schedule boost they may have hoped for. Among the other ten teams playing 16 back-to-backs are Denver and Phoenix, with the latter being a bit concerning due to past health issues for Bradley Beal, Kevin Durant, and Devin Booker.

- Lakers among seven teams with 13 back-to-backs

Considering the workloads they've been expected to shoulder for the Lakers, this is a pretty big deal for LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Coming off of an Olympic gold medal, limited back-to-backs should work in their favor, especially when considering how grueling the West projects to be this season. Also receiving a league-low 13 back-to-backs were Boston (as noted above), Dallas, Detroit, Chicago, Orlando, and Portland. The Magic, one of the league's emerging young teams, has dealt with injuries to multiple rotation players in the past; could the schedule make Jonathan Isaac someone worth rolling the dice on in the late rounds of drafts?

- Seven teams play a league-low 10 games in Weeks 23-25

Unless you're in a league that runs in concert with the NBA's regular season schedule (ending with Week 26), Weeks 23-25 (Basketball Monster has a nice grid

right here

Denver, Detroit, Houston, Minnesota, New Orleans, Portland, and Utah are those teams, with the Nuggets (Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray), Timberwolves (Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns), and Pelicans (Zion Williamson, Dejounte Murray) being the most notable. Of those seven, Denver, Houston, Portland, and Utah only play three games in Week 25, while the others will play four apiece.

On the flip side, the Lakers, Knicks, Kings, and Wizards are scheduled to play 12 games during those three weeks. Managers searching for streamers during those playoff matchups may scour those rosters before they look elsewhere.

The NBA schedule is out. A couple nuggets:

- Average back-to-backs: 14.9. Up from last year, down 23% from a decade ago.

- No 4-in-5-nights, no 8-in-12-nights, no 18-in-30-nights.

- Teams won't play the day before or the day after "high-profile national TV games" this season.

— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) August 15, 2024

- The removal of stretches in which teams play four games in five nights

Tim Reynolds' tweet above notes that no team is scheduled to play four games in five nights. And that sound you hear is fantasy managers cheering, as this should (in theory) boost player availability. While it should be relatively "easy" by this point to figure out which players are more likely to get a night off than others, not having to account for this should help in the building of fantasy rosters.

Also of note is that teams are not scheduled to play the day before or after a "high-profile nationally televised game." That may have been done with the league's television partners in mind, but this is also good news for fantasy basketball. The Lakers (39 games, including NBA TV) and Warriors (36) lead the way in nationally televised games. Games shown on NBA TV do not qualify as "high-profile" national TV games, which would drop the Lakers and Warriors to

29 and 24 such games