The Miami Heat will get a taste of big men, both young and old, to start the 2018-19 NBA season.
The Sun Sentinel has confirmed that the Heat will open the regular season on Oct. 17 against the Orlando Magic at Amway Center and then complete their first back-to-back set of the season with an Oct. 18 game against the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena.
That will have the Heat as the first NBA regular-season test for 7-foot-1 Mo Bamba, the center out of Texas selected by the Magic at No. 6 in June’s NBA draft, before moving on to face veteran center Dwight Howard, who joined the Wizards in the offseason as a free agent.
The early matchups could play to the advantage of the Heat, who feature Hassan Whiteside, Kelly Olynyk and Bam Adebayo at center.
The remainder of the NBA — and Heat — schedule will be unveiled Friday.
For the third consecutive season the Heat will not be part of the NBA’s Christmas showcases, after playing on the holiday the previous seven years. The Heat also are not scheduled for Martin Luther King Day in January.
The Heat had won their first game for six consecutive years before losing last season’s opener 116-109 to the Orlando Magic at the Amway Center.
The Heat previously announced the preseason schedule, which opens Sept. 30 against the San Antonio Spurs at the AT&T Center. The Heat’s first three exhibitions will be on the road, with the final three at home, with tickets for those games already on sale.
As for the regular-season schedule, the Heat will play every Western Conference team twice, with one game at home and one on the road. They will play every Eastern Conference team at least three times, with most of those series being four games, two at home and two on the road. The Heat are not scheduled for international games outside of Canada this season, after playing the Brooklyn Nets last season in Mexico.
(function(){var a = document.querySelector(‘.s2nPlayer-0UVmmC1F’);if(a && (a = a.parentNode)){a.style.contain=’none’;a.style.overflow=’visible’}})();//embed.sendtonews.com/player2/embedcode.php?fk=0UVmmC1F&cid=4641&SIZE=400
The Heat open training camp in late September, with an expected return to the Boca Raton campus of Florida Atlantic University.
The Heat have 15 players under contract for the coming season, five under the NBA’s offseason limit. Teams are limited to 15 players during the regular season, with the two-way contracts of Yante Maten and Duncan Robinson not counting against that total.
The Heat’s record in opening games:
1988 11/5 vs. L.A. Clippers L 111-91
1989 11/3 vs. New Jersey L 110-90
1990 11/2 vs. Washington W 119-95
1991 11/2 vs. New York W 107-93
1992 11/6 at Orlando L 110-100
1993 11/5 vs. Orlando L 116-96
1994 11/4 at Utah L 119-108
1995 11/4 vs. Cleveland W 85-71
1996 11/1 vs. Atlanta W 94-81
1997 10/31 vs. Toronto W 114-101
1998 2/5 vs. Detroit L 95-81
1999 11/2 vs. Detroit W 128-122 (2 OT)
2000 11/1 vs. Orlando W 105-79
2001 10/31 vs. Toronto W 97-92
2002 10/30 vs. Orlando L 100-86
2003 10/28 at Philadelphia L 89-74
2004 11/3 at New Jersey W 100-77
2005 11/2 at Memphis W 97-78
2006 10/31 vs. Chicago L 108-66
2007 11/1 vs. Detroit L 91-80
2008 10/29 at New York L 120-115
2009 10/28 vs. New York W 115-93
2010 10/26 at Boston L 88-80
2011 12/25 at Dallas W 105-94
2012 10/30 vs. Boston W 120-107
2013 10/29 vs. Chicago W 107-95
2014 10/29 vs. Washington W 107-95
2015 10/28 vs. Charlotte W 104-94
2016 10/26 at Orlando W 108-96
2017 10/18 at Orlando L 116-108
.ss-blurb-fblike{
padding-left:10px;
}
.ss-blurb-fblike-heading {
font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;
font-weight: bold;
}
Like us on Facebook
(function(d, s, id) {
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) return;
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.10&appId=728754867160252”;
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));
@font-face {
font-family: Georgia,Arial,sans-serif;
font-weight:normal;
font-style:normal;
}
.galleries:after {
content: ”;
display: block;
background-color: #D80000;
margin: 16px auto 0;
height: 5px;
width: 100px;
}
.galleries:before {
content: “Heat Videos”;
display: block;
font: 700 23px/25px Georgia,Arial,sans-serif;
text-align: center;
color: #1e1e1e;
}
#subscribe-box {
background: #2E4254;
padding: 25px;
margin-bottom: 20px;
position: relative;
height: 300px;
}
#subscribe-box .inner {
position: absolute;
width: 80%;
left: 50%;
top: 50%;
transform: translate(-50%, -50%);
}
#subscribe-box a {
text-decoration: none;
}
#subscribe-box p {
color: #fff;
font: 300 16px/20px Arial,sans-serif;
}
#subscribe-box p.prompt {
font: 300 18px/22px Arial,sans-serif;
}
#subscribe-box p.title {
font-size: 30px;
font: 700 23px/25px Georgia,Arial,sans-serif;
}
#subscribe-box .link {
width: 150px;
background: #FF5443;
border-radius: 6px;
}
#subscribe-box .link p {
padding: 15px;
font-size: 18px;
font-weight: bold;
color: #fff;
font-family: Arial, sans-serif;
text-align: center;
}
@media (max-width: 600px){
.desktop-text {
display: none;
}
}
