First half of 2020-21 Heat schedule is out: Full list of games and how many on national TV

The 2020-21 NBA season is going to look different amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but the Miami Heat will begin its regular-season schedule in a familiar place.

With the NBA releasing the first half of the 2020-21 schedule (Dec. 22, 2020 — March 4, 2021) on Friday afternoon, it became official: The Heat will open the season in Orlando against the Magic for the fourth time in five seasons.

The Heat is scheduled to begin the season on the road against the Magic on Dec. 23 at 7 p.m before returning to Miami for its home opener against the New Orleans Pelicans on Christmas Day at noon.

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With each NBA team set to play a shortened 72-game regular season in 2020-21 instead of the traditional 82-game schedule, the first half of the schedule released Friday includes 37 games for Miami. Of those 37 games, 18 are at home and 19 are on the road.

The Heat plays five of its first seven games at home, but then hits the road for eight of its next 10 games.

The first half of Miami’s schedule also includes a long seven-game trip that spans almost two weeks and takes the team to the other side of the country: Feb. 11 at Houston Rockets, Feb. 13 at Utah Jazz, Feb. 15 at Los Angeles Clippers, Feb. 17 at Golden State Warriors, Feb. 18 at Sacramento Kings, Feb. 20 at Los Angeles Lakers and Feb. 22 at Oklahoma City Thunder. It marks the Heat’s longest road trip since a seven-game trip in 2009, and it’s tied for the longest road trip in franchise history.

Last season’s NBA Finals appearance in the Walt Disney World bubble helped add more showcase games to Miami’s schedule. The Heat lost to the Lakers in the Finals.

Miami, which became the first team seeded fifth or lower to make the Finals since 1999 last season behind the All-Star duo of Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler, will play on Christmas for the first time since 2015. The Heat is also scheduled for a New Year’s Day road game against the Dallas Mavericks and will also play on Martin Luther King Jr. Day for the fourth consecutive season on Jan. 18 against the Detroit Pistons at AmericanAirlines Arena at 3 p.m.

Miami’s longest homestand during the first half of the season includes six consecutive games beginning Jan. 27 and ends Feb. 5.

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The first half of the Heat’s schedule includes 16 national TV appearances, which could change during the course of the season. Miami was set to make 10 national TV appearances for the entirety of the 2019-20 season when the schedule was released last year.

The Heat is listed for four games on ESPN (Dec. 25 vs. Pelicans, Jan. 6 vs. Boston Celtics, Feb. 17 at Warriors, Feb. 24 vs. Toronto Raptors), one game on ABC (a Feb. 20 Finals rematch against the Lakers) and five games on TNT (Dec. 29 vs. Milwaukee Bucks, Jan. 14 at Philadelphia 76ers, Jan. 28 vs. Clippers, Feb. 11 at Rockets, March 4 at Pelicans). Miami’s six NBA TV games: Dec. 30 vs. Bucks, Jan. 9 at Washington Wizards, Jan. 10 at Celtics, Jan. 23 and 25 at Brooklyn Nets and Feb. 15 at Clippers.

The Heat has at least one game on national TV in each of the first six weeks of the season and in 10 of the 11 weeks in the first half of the season.

In order to help reduce travel and mitigate the spread of COVID-19, the NBA added a somewhat new element to the schedule. For teams that play twice in one market, the league is often having those teams play both of those road games in that respective city consecutively on one trip instead of having to make two separate trips to play those games.

The Heat is set to play seven of these two-game series during the first half of the schedule, with four coming at home and three on the road.

Miami’s first series of the season comes against two-time reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks — Dec. 29 and 30 at AmericanAirlines Arena in the Heat’s third and fourth games of the season.

The Heat’s other six series during the first half of the season: Jan. 12 and 14 at 76ers, Jan. 16 and 18 vs. Pistons, Jan. 20 and 22 at Toronto Raptors, Jan. 23 and 25 at Nets, Feb. 3 and 5 vs. Wizards, and Feb. 28 and March 2 vs. Atlanta Hawks.

Another factor helping to lessen the Heat’s travel this season? The fact that the Raptors are playing their home games during the first half of the season at Amalie Arena in Tampa because of Canada’s strict COVID-19 restrictions.

Instead of traveling to Toronto, the Heat will make one trip to Tampa to play both of this season’s road games against the Raptors in January.

Back-to-backs are still part of the schedule, with Miami set to play five during the first half of the season. Three of the back-to-back sets feature consecutive road games, and the other two include consecutive home games.

The first half of the Heat’s schedule does not include reunion games against Jae Crowder (Phoenix Suns) or Derrick Jones Jr. (Portland Trail Blazers), who both left Miami as free agents this offseason. The Suns and Trail Blazers are two of the eight teams that the Heat will not face during the first half of the season, along with the Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Indiana Pacers, Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves and San Antonio Spurs.

Another noteworthy item: The Heat listed its Jan. 4 home matchup against the Thunder as the first game it would wear its new “ViceVersa” City Edition uniform.

The opponent breakdown for the condensed 72-game schedule looks like this for the Heat:

▪ The Heat will play three games against each Eastern Conference team (42 total games), with each season series featuring either two home games and one road game or one home game and two road games.

▪ The Heat will play one road game and one home game against each Western Conference team (30 total games).

The schedule for the second half of the season will be released toward the end of the first half of the schedule, and the second-half schedule will include the remainder of each team’s 72 games not scheduled in the first half and any games postponed during the first half that can “reasonably be added” to the second half of the schedule.

The All-Star break is scheduled to take place March 5-10, between the first half and second half of the regular season. But the break will not include an All-Star Game.

The Heat will play two preseason games: against the Pelicans on Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. at AmericanAirlines Arena and against the Raptors on Dec. 18 at 7 p.m. in Tampa.

The Heat has not yet announced whether it will allow for some amount of fans to attend home games at AmericanAirlines Arena. But the likelihood is the Heat will begin the season by playing home games without any fans in attendance, according to a league source.

The Heat said in a Friday statement that announced the release of the schedule: “Ticket information will be released at a later date. A limited number of season ticket memberships are still available. Visit heatseasontickets.com or call 786-777-HOOP.”

Most of the Heat’s national TV games will also be aired on Fox Sports Sun, and all non-national TV games will be aired on Fox Sports Sun.

The Miami Heat Radio Network, led by its flagship station 790 The Ticket, will carry all of the team’s games in English. Additionally, the Miami Heat Spanish Radio Network will broadcast each regular-season game in Spanish on Univision Radio’s Radio Mambi (710 AM).

The Heat has been holding individual workouts at its practice facility since Tuesday, with the first team practice scheduled for Sunday.

MIAMI HEAT SCHEDULE

Dec. 23: at Orlando, 7 p.m.

Dec. 25: vs. New Orleans, 12 p.m. (ESPN)

Dec. 29: vs. Milwaukee, 7:30 p.m. (TNT)

Dec. 30: vs. Milwaukee, 7:30 p.m. (NBA TV)

Jan. 1: at Dallas, 8:30 p.m.

Jan. 4: vs. Oklahoma City, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 6: vs. Boston, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Jan. 9: at Washington, 7 p.m. (NBA TV)

Jan. 10: at Boston, 7 p.m. (NBA TV)

Jan. 12: at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.

Jan. 14: at Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m. (TNT)

Jan. 16: vs. Detroit, 8 p.m.

Jan. 18: vs. Detroit, 3 p.m.

Jan. 20: at Toronto (in Tampa), 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 22: at Toronto (in Tampa), 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 23: at Brooklyn, 7:30 p.m. (NBA TV)

Jan. 25: at Brooklyn, 7:30 p.m. (NBA TV)

Jan. 27: vs. Denver, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 28: vs. L.A. Clippers, 7 p.m. (TNT)

Jan. 30: vs. Sacramento, 8 p.m.

Feb. 1: vs. Charlotte, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 3: vs. Washington, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 5: vs. Washington, 8 p.m.

Feb. 7: at New York, 1 p.m.

Feb. 9: vs. New York, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 11: at Houston, 7:30 p.m. (TNT)

Feb. 13: at Utah, 9 p.m.

Feb. 15: at L.A. Clippers, 10 p.m. (NBA TV)

Feb. 17: at Golden State, 10 p.m. (ESPN)

Feb. 18: at Sacramento, 10 p.m.

Feb. 20: at L.A. Lakers, 8:30 p.m. (ABC)

Feb. 22: at Oklahoma City, 8 p.m.

Feb. 24: vs. Toronto, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Feb. 26: vs. Utah, 8 p.m.

Feb. 28: vs. Atlanta, 6 p.m.

March 2: vs. Atlanta, 7:30 p.m.

March 4: at New Orleans, 9:30 p.m. (TNT)