2023-24 NBA schedule: Sacramento Kings rewarded with 22 nationally televised games

The NBA and its broadcast partners are rewarding the Sacramento Kings after they emerged as one of the league’s most exciting teams during their run to the playoffs last season.

The Kings will play 22 nationally televised games as part of the 2023-24 NBA schedule, which was unveiled Thursday. The Kings will play five games on ESPN, six on TNT and 11 on NBA TV.

The NBA season will begin Oct. 24 with two marquee matchups on Opening Night. The Los Angeles Lakers will visit the defending champion Denver Nuggets and the Phoenix Suns will visit the Golden State Warriors.

The Kings will play their season opener on the road against the Utah Jazz on Oct. 25. They will come home to face the Warriors on Oct. 27 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento in a rematch of their memorable seven-game playoff series in April.

That game against the Warriors will be broadcast by ESPN along with a Nov. 15 road game against the Lakers; a Nov. 17 road game against the San Antonio Spurs; a Feb. 25 road game against the Los Angeles Clippers; and a March 13 home game against the Lakers.

The Kings will play the Warriors on Nov. 28 on TNT. Other TNT games include a Jan. 25 road game against the Warriors; a Feb. 13 road game against the Suns; a March 26 home game against the Dallas Mavericks; an April 2 home game against the Clippers; and an April 11 home game against the New Orleans Pelicans.

The last time the Kings had at least five games on ESPN and six games on TNT was during the 2006-07 season, which marked the start of their 16-year playoff drought.

Tickets for games at Golden 1 Center will go on sale Friday. Exclusive presale access is available at Kings.com/presale.

Earlier this week, the NBA released team-by-team schedules for a new In-Season Tournament that will culminate with a championship game in Las Vegas.

The Kings will play four group stage games in West Group C against the Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder and Spurs. Each team will play two games at home and two on the road with all group stage games played on Tuesdays and Fridays in November.

The Kings will open group play against the Thunder on Nov. 10 at Golden 1 Center. The Kings will then travel to San Antonio to face the Spurs on Nov. 17. They will visit the Timberwolves on Nov. 14 before concluding group play at home against the Warriors on Nov. 28.

The Kings will have two six-game homestands, one in December and one in March. They will have a season-long seven-game road trip from Jan. 25-Feb. 5 with games against the Warriors, Mavericks, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, Indiana Pacers, Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers.

Sacramento will have 15 back-to-back sets this season. Six will be home-home, six will be away-away, two will be away-home and one will be home-away.

The Kings won 48 games to finish third in the Western Conference last season, their best record since 2004-05 and their highest finish since 2002-03. De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis were named NBA All-Stars and All-NBA Third Team selections.

The Kings also return Kevin Huerter, Harrison Barnes, Keegan Murray, Malik Monk, Davion Mitchell, Trey Lyles and Alex Len. They’ve added EuroLeague MVP Sasha Vezenkov and Chris Duarte to a team that led the league in scoring (120.7 ppg) while recording the highest offensive rating (119.4) in NBA history.