Key Dates on Hornets' Schedule, Toughest & Easiest Stretches + More

The 2022-23 NBA schedule was released on Wednesday, signaling that a new season is just around the corner. The Charlotte Hornets will open up the year on the road on October 19th in San Antonio against the Spurs before returning to the Queen City for their home opener against the New Orleans Pelicans two days later on the 21st.

After examining the 82-game slate, I thought it would be good to note a few important dates along with some areas of the schedule that I found challenging for this young team and one spot where they could pile up some wins.

Key dates

Oct. 19 - season opener at San Antonio at 8 p.m. EST

Oct. 21 - home opener vs New Orleans at 7 p.m. EST

Jan. 16 - host Monday matinee vs Memphis at 1 p.m. on Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Feb. 17-19 - NBA All-Star Weekend in Salt Lake City, Utah

April 11-14 - NBA Play-In Tournament

April 15 - NBA Playoffs begin

June 1 - Game 1 of NBA Finals

Toughest stretches - Dec 18th-27th, all of January

The six-game west coast roadtrip is always a challenge, but even more so for a young team such as the Hornets. Charlotte will play six games in ten days against Denver, Sacramento, LA Clippers, LA Lakers, Portland, and Golden State. Only two of those six teams made the playoffs a year ago but both LA teams were riddled with injuries and should be much improved in 2022-23.

The month of January is going to be brutal for the Hornets.

1/2 vs Los Angeles Lakers, 7 p.m.

1/4 vs Memphis Grizzlies, 7 p.m.

1/6 at Milwaukee Bucks, 7 p.m.

1/8 at Indiana Pacers, 5 p.m.

1/10 at Toronto Raptors, 7:30 p.m.

1/12 at Toronto Raptors, 7:30 p.m.

1/14 vs Boston Celtics, 7 p.m.

1/16 vs Boston Celtics, 1 p.m. (NBATV)

1/18 at Houston Rockets, 7 p.m.

1/21 at Atlanta Hawks, 7:30 p.m.

1/23 at Utah Jazz, 7 p.m.

1/24 at Phoenix Suns, 7 p.m.

1/26 vs Chicago Bulls, 7:30 p.m. (TNT)

1/29 vs Miami Heat, 1 p.m.

1/31 at Milwaukee Bucks, 7 p.m.

They play nine of the 15 games on the road and are going to be playing playoff contending teams in 13 of those games. If the Hornets can fight their way to 7-8 or better in January, it's a win. The one thing they can't do is let a daunting month of January carry over into February and the remainder of the season.

Easiest stretches - Oct. 19th-28th, Feb. 11th-Mar. 3rd

The start of the season is fairly favorable for the Hornets. Although four of these five games are on the road, they could very easily go 4-1 in this stretch of games. Atlanta on the road isn't going to be easy but playing them this early in the season after getting blown out in the Play-In tournament might be a good thing. The Hornets beat the Pacers on opening night last year after getting obliterated by them in the Play-In the previous season.

The longest homestretch of the season goes from mid-February to early March. In that span, the Hornets will play seven of eight games inside Spectrum Center. The opponents? Denver, Atlanta, San Antonio, (at) Minnesota, Miami, Detroit, Phoenix, and Orlando. Certainly some difficult matchups in there but a favorable stretch nonetheless.

Critical month - November

January is important as I just detailed, but the month of November is going to play large as well. The Hornets have five games against divisional foes and four of them are one the road. This will be a great opportunity for Charlotte to pick up divisional wins early in the year when the team is at its healthiest.

Some other interesting notes about the Hornets' schedule

Homestands of four games or more:

5 games (3/11 to 3/20)

4 games (12/29 to 1/4)

4 games (2/25 to 3/3)

4 games (3/31 to 4/7)

Longest home stretch

7 of 8 games (2/11 to 3/3)

Roadtrips of four games or more

6 games (12/18 to 12/27)

4 games (1/6 to 1/12)

4 games (1/18 to 1/24)

Five games in seven days

1 (12/4 to 12/10)

Consecutive game vs same opponent

Miami (11/10 and 11/12 – Road/Road)

Toronto (1/10 and 1/12 – Road/Road)

Boston (1/14 and 1/16 – Home/Home)

Cleveland (3/12 and 3/14 – Home/Home)

Dallas (3/24 and 3/26 – Road/Home)

Toronto (4/2 and 4/4 – Home/Home)

Home/road games by half

First Half (10/19 to 1/8): 19 home/22 road

Second Half (1/10 to 4/9): 22 home/19 road

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