The 30th season of Toronto Raptors basketball will begin at home against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The NBA released its regular season schedule on Thursday and Toronto’s rebuild will begin against the Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley-led Eastern Conference contenders. Toronto has missed the playoffs in three of the last four seasons and won only 25 games last year, the team’s fewest since 2011-12.
Toronto’s first road game will be on Oct. 26 at Minnesota, a day after former head coach Nick Nurse’s new-look Philadelphia 76ers come to town with Paul George. Toronto then hosts Kitchener’s Jamal Murray, three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets on Oct. 28.
Two unannounced regular season games will be played between Dec. 10 and Dec. 16 and will be released following the conclusion of the Emirates NBA Cup group play games. The Raptors open group play on Nov. 12 at Milwaukee. Toronto will also play Detroit (Nov. 15), at Miami (Nov. 29) and Indiana (Dec. 3) as part of the tournament.
The schedule features four games against divisional foes with two at home and two away. Four other Eastern Conference teams will also be played twice at home and on the road (Cleveland, Detroit, Orlando and Washington). Three will be played once at home and twice on the road (Atlanta, Chicago and Milwaukee) and three will be faced twice at home and once on the road (Charlotte, Indiana and Miami). Each Western Conference team will be played once at home and on the road.
Some of the notable home games include LeBron James coming to town with the Los Angeles Lakers on Nov. 1, the defending champion Boston Celtics on Jan. 15 and Feb. 25 and Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs on March 23. Hamilton’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder are in Toronto for the 10th annual Giants of Africa Game on Dec. 5.
The longest homestand of the season is five games from Dec. 1 to Dec. 9, while the longest road trip is five games, which happens Nov. 4 to Nov. 12.
The busiest day of the week for the Raptors this season will be Wednesday and Friday with 15 games apiece. Friday is the busiest day at home with nine contests, while Sunday and Wednesday both feature a high of eight road games.
The Raptors’ busiest months are November, January and March with 15 games. The busiest home months are December and January with eight games apiece, while the busiest road month is November with Toronto playing 10 games away from Scotiabank Arena.
The Raptors will have 15 back-to-back games this season (one more than last season). Of those sets, five involve no travel.