Oklahoma
City will host Orlando before Blake Griffin and the Los Angeles Clippers visit
Golden State on Christmas night, running the NBA’s planned opening-day schedule
to five games.
Those
games were added Friday to the three that were already set when the 2011-12
schedule was originally unveiled: Boston at New York, Miami at Dallas, and
Chicago at the Los Angeles Lakers.
Commissioner
David Stern said the league hoped to open the season with that tripleheader
after announcing a tentative agreement on a new labor deal with the players
last Saturday. But the league decided to add two later games, with the nightcap
featuring Mark Jackson’s debut as Warriors coach.
The
revised 66-game schedule will be released Tuesday night during an NBA TV
special.
TNT
will televise the opener, while ABC gets the NBA finals rematch and the matchup
between MVP Derrick Rose and Kobe Bryant, whose Lakers will be playing their
first game under former Cleveland coach Mike Brown. The final two contests will
air on ESPN.
The
Thunder reached the Western Conference finals last season behind league scoring
champion Kevin Durant, while the Magic face the uncertainty of Dwight Howard’s
future with the team.
The
Dec. 25 opening date is contingent on the CBA being ratified next week.
Lawyers
for the league and players' association resumed negotiations Friday on the
remaining issues, the so-called B-list items such as drug testing, the draft
eligibility age and the commissioner's power to discipline. The goal is to
complete the agreement Tuesday so it could be presented at a meeting of player
representatives Wednesday, then both sides would vote to ratify it Thursday.
If that
happens, training camps and free agency would open next Friday.
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