The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

THE NBA released its full regular season schedule over the weekend, and several marquee games highlight the matchups for the league’s Bahamian players.

Deandre Ayton and Chavano “Buddy” Hield will face each other four times as Pacific Division rivals in the Western Conference while Kai Jones, playing out of the Eastern Conference, will square off against both Hield and Ayton twice over the course of the regular season.

Ayton and the Phoenix Suns will host the first of the four meetings against Hield’s Sacramento Kings, October 27 at Footprint Center in Phoenix Arizona.

The Kings will host the second matchup, November 8, as the venue shifts to the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California.

Sacramento will also host game three on Sunday, March 20 and the Suns will host the final regular-season meeting between the teams on April 10.

Jones will have his first All-Bahamian matchup on November 5 when the Hornets will travel to Sacramento to face the Kings at the Golden 1 Center. The Hornets will then host the Kings at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina on December 10.

The Hornets will travel to face the Suns at the Footprint Center on December 19 and will host the Suns at the Spectrum Center on January 2. The defending Western Conference champions, the Suns had a 17 game improvement from 34-39 in the 2019-20 season to 51-21 in 2020-21.

They will be featured in a franchise record 34 nationally televised games this season, an increase from 13 last season.

This year the Suns will play on ESPN 11 times, TNT nine times, ABC three times, and NBATV 11 times. Their 34 nationally televised games rank fifth in the league. Phoenix will open the season at home on October 20 when they host the Denver Nuggets.

The Sacramento Kings will begin the regular season on the road against the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center on October 20. The Kings are one of just four teams this season without a single nationally televised game.

The Kings finished the 2020-21 season 31-41, the franchise’s 15th consecutive season without a playoff berth which tied an NBA record.

The Hornets will open the regular season at home when they host the Indiana Pacers at Spectrum Center.

They finished last season 33-39, 10th place in the Eastern Conference, an improvement on their 23-42 finish in the previous season.

Charlotte will have four nationally televised games this season, up from three last year.

They will also be featured in four games broadcast on NBA TV.