The NBA will release its regular-season schedules in a made-for-television extravaganza at 5 p.m. Tuesday on NBA-TV.
But we already know where the Spurs will start and finish the season.
The Memphis Commerical Appeal reported that an advance draft of the schedule indicated that the for the first game for both teams. It will be a rematch of last season’s stunning upset by Memphis in the first round of the playoffs.
And the Arizona Republic reported Tuesday that the Spurs will visit the Suns on April 25 . It will be the same place the Spurs finished last season in the game where Manu Ginobili sustained his broken arm heading into the playoffs.
It means that San Antonio will be facing an unprecedented grind with 62 games during a period of only 122 days.
That grueling schedule will be an arduous test of the mettle of NBA teams. Spurs forward Matt Bonner joked Tuesday that he hasn’t faced as rigorous a schedule since his AAU basketball days.
“I think teams with depth are going to have an advtange during those types of stretches,” Bonner said. “Coaches are going to have to manage minutes. You can’t play a guy 44 minutes five out of six nights in a row.”
But Bonner said the Spurs depth and continuity should help them play through the schedule more than teams that are facing change coming into the season.
“It will be exciting for a team like us,” Bonner said. “This is a team I think that has great depth, to go out and utilize everybody to try and be successful during those kind of stretches.”