Heat’s 2023-24 schedule is out: Full list of games, things to know, national TV info and more

The Miami Heat will open this upcoming season at home, but the first month of the schedule will mostly be spent on the road.

On Thursday afternoon, the NBA released the 2023-24 regular-season schedule that includes 80 (40 home and 40 away) of each team’s 82 games because two games for each team during the week of Dec. 4 will remain up in the air until the group stage of the league’s inaugural in-season tournament plays out.

The Heat opens this upcoming season at home against the Detroit Pistons at Kaseya Center on Oct. 25 at 7:30 p.m, but 12 of the following 16 games will come on the road as part of a challenging early portion of the schedule.

Immediately after beginning the regular season against the Pistons in Miami, the Heat hits the road for a three-game trip that includes an Eastern Conference finals rematch against the Boston Celtics on Oct. 27 that will air on ESPN, a matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Oct. 28 and a rematch of last season’s first-round playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks on Oct. 30.

This road-heavy portion of the schedule also includes a four-game trip against the Memphis Grizzlies on Nov. 8, Atlanta Hawks on Nov. 11, San Antonio Spurs on Nov. 12 and Charlotte Hornets on Nov. 14 and a five-game trip against the Chicago Bulls on Nov. 18 and 20, Cleveland Cavaliers on Nov. 22, New York Knicks on Nov. 24 and Brooklyn Nets on Nov. 25.

Making things even tougher for the Heat early on is the fact that eight of these first 12 road games come against opponents that made the playoffs last season.

The five-game trip that begins in Chicago is tied for the longest of the season for the Heat. Miami also has a five-game West Coast trip on its schedule that begins on Dec. 28 against the Golden State Warriors and continues against the Utah Jazz on Dec. 30, Jan. 1 against the Los Angeles Clippers, Jan. 3 against the Los Angeles Lakers and ends Jan. 5 against the Phoenix Suns.

The longest homestand for the Heat this upcoming season lasts four games. Miami has four four-game homestands on its schedule, with the first coming in December against the Hornets on Dec. 13, Bulls on Dec. 14 and 16 and Timberwolves on Dec. 18.

While the league opted not to have the Heat play in the exclusive season-opening doubleheader on Oct. 24 despite Miami representing the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals this year, the Heat is working on a bunch of holidays this season.

The Heat will host the Philadelphia 76ers on Christmas Day for Miami’s first Christmas game since 2020. The Heat will also be in Atlanta to take on the Hawks on Veterans Day on Nov. 11, in Los Angeles to face the Clippers on New Year’s Day on Jan. 1, in Brooklyn to play the Nets on Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 15., in Philadelphia to take on the 76ers on Valentine’s Day on Feb. 14 and in Washington D.C. to face the Wizards on Easter on March 31.

The Heat also hosts the Celtics on Super Bowl Sunday on Feb. 11 at 2 p.m. at Kaseya Center in a game aired on ABC. The Super Bowl kicks off at 6:30 p.m.

The Heat is currently scheduled for 16 national TV appearances, which could change during the course of the season: eight games on ESPN (Oct. 27 at Celtics, Nov. 24 at Knicks, Dec. 25 vs. 76ers, Jan. 3 at Lakers, Feb. 23 at New Orleans Pelicans, March 13 vs. Denver Nuggets, March 18 at 76ers and April 10 vs. Dallas Mavericks), six games on TNT (Nov. 28 vs. Bucks, Jan. 25 vs. Celtics, Feb. 27 at Portland Trail Blazers, Feb. 29 at Nuggets, March 7 at Mavericks and April 4 vs. 76ers), and two games on ABC (Jan. 27 at Knicks and Feb. 11 vs. Celtics).

The possibility of landing Trail Blazers All-Star guard Damian Lillard, who requested to be traded to Miami on July 1 but has yet to be dealt, appears to have helped the Heat get more of the national spotlight this season. The Heat was slated for 11 national TV appearances last season and 10 national TV appearances in the 2021-22 season at the time those schedules were released.

The Heat is also currently set to have eight of its games aired on NBA TV (Nov. 6 vs. Lakers, Nov. 16 vs. Nets, Nov. 30 vs. Indiana Pacers, Dec. 28 at Warriors, Jan. 29 vs. Suns, Feb. 26 at Sacramento Kings, March 2 vs. Jazz and March 22 vs. Pelicans).

The All-Star break is scheduled from Feb. 16-21, with the 2024 All-Star Game set for Feb. 18 in Indianapolis. The Heat’s regular season comes to an end with an April 14 matchup against the Toronto Raptors at Kaseya Center.

The Heat is scheduled to hold its annual media day on Oct. 2 before opening training camp on Oct. 3. Miami will play a five-game preseason schedule: Oct. 10 vs. Hornets, Oct. 13 at Spurs, Oct. 15 vs. Grizzlies, Oct. 18 vs. Nets and Oct. 20 at Houston Rockets.

Bally Sports Sun will air four of the Heat’s five preseason games, and up to 73 of the 82 regular-season games depending on the two games on the schedule that remain up in the air because of the in-season tourney. The nine Heat regular-season games that won’t be televised on Bally Sports Sun as of now are the six that will be on TNT, the Christmas Day game that will be on ESPN and the two that will be on ABC.

The Heat’s flagship radio station, AM 560 Sports WQAM, will carry all of the team’s games in English. Additionally, the Heat Spanish Radio Network will broadcast each home preseason game and every regular-season game in Spanish on Univision Radio’s Radio Mambi (710 AM).

Tickets for all Heat regular-season home games will go on sale to the general public on Saturday at noon. Tickets can be purchased by logging on to Heat.com or Ticketmaster.com, and all Heat home games are again mobile-only entry.

Here are some other things to know about the Heat’s 2023-24 schedule:

▪ The Heat will see familiar faces Max Strus and Gabe Vincent in the first few weeks of the regular season. Strus left the Heat to sign with the Cavaliers and Vincent left the Heat to sign with the Lakers in free agency this summer.

The Heat’s first matcup of the season against the Cavaliers comes on Nov. 22 in Cleveland and the Heat’s first game of the season against the Lakers comes on Nov. 6 in Miami.

▪ Whether the Heat acquires Lillard from the Trail Blazers or not, Miami’s game in Portland next season will be on national television. The Heat’s one road game against the Trail Blazers this upcoming regular season will be aired on TNT on Feb. 27 just days after the NBA trade deadline.

▪ The Heat has 13 back-to-back sets on its schedule this season, which is one more than the 14 back-to-back sets Miami played last regular season.

▪ The relatively new element of the NBA schedule that helps reduce travel is still around: For teams playing twice in one market, the league recently started scheduling teams to 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 had seven of those “series” in last season’s schedule and has five such series this season. Miami travels to face the Bulls in consecutive games in Chicago on Nov. 18 and 20, hosts the Pacers on Nov. 30 and Dec. 2, hosts the Bulls on Dec. 14 and 16, travels to take on the Pistons on March 15 and 17 and hosts the Raptors on April 12 and 14 in the final two games of the regular season.

▪ As part of the NBA’s new in-season tournament, the Heat’s four group play games that will also count as regular-season games are: Nov. 3 vs. Wizards., Nov. 14 at Hornets, Nov. 24 at Knicks and on Nov. 28 vs. Bucks.

▪ As for conflicts with the Miami Dolphins, the Heat and Dolphins play on the same day just two times: Nov. 24 when the Heat and Dolphins both play in New York against the Knicks and Jets, respectively, and Dec. 11 when the Heat takes on the Hornets in Charlotte and the Dolphins host the Tennessee Titans on Monday Night Football.

The Heat and Miami Hurricanes play on the same day four times: Oct. 28 (Heat at Timberwolves and UM vs. Virginia), Nov. 11 (Heat at Hawks and UM at Florida State), Nov. 18 (Heat at Bulls and UM vs. Louisville) and Nov. 24 (Heat at Knicks and UM at Boston College).

▪ Nine of the Heat’s final 13 regular-season games will come at home.

HEAT 2023-24 SCHEDULE

Oct. 25: vs. Pistons, 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 27: at Celtics, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Oct. 28: at Timberwolves, 8 p.m.

Oct. 30: at Bucks, 8 p.m.

Nov. 1: vs. Nets, 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 3: vs. Wizards, 8 p.m.*

Nov. 6: vs. Lakers, 7:30 p.m. (NBA TV)

Nov. 8: at Grizzlies, 8 p.m.

Nov. 11: at Hawks, 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 12: at Spurs, 7 p.m.

Nov. 14: at Hornets, 7 p.m.*

Nov. 16: vs. Nets, 7:30 p.m. (NBA TV)

Nov. 18: at Bulls, 8 p.m.

Nov. 20: at Bulls, 8 p.m.

Nov. 22: at Cavaliers, 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 24: at Knicks, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)*

Nov. 25: at Nets, 6 p.m.

Nov. 28: vs. Bucks, 7:30 p.m. (TNT)*

Nov. 30: vs. Pacers, 7:30 p.m. (NBA TV)

Dec. 2: vs. Pacers, 8 p.m.

Week of Dec. 4: Undetermined, based on results of group stage of in-season tournament

Week of Dec. 4: Undetermined, based on results of group stage of in-season tournament

Dec. 11: at Hornets, 7 p.m.

Dec. 13: vs. Hornets, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 14: vs. Bulls, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 16: vs. Bulls, 8 p.m.

Dec. 18: vs. Timberwolves, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 20: at Magic, 7 p.m.

Dec. 22: vs. Hawks, 8 p.m.

Dec. 25: vs. 76ers, 8 p.m. (ESPN)

Dec. 28: at Warriors, 10 p.m. (NBA TV)

Dec. 30: at Jazz, 5 p.m.

Jan. 1: at Clippers, 10:30 p.m.

Jan. 3: at Lakers, 10 p.m. (ESPN)

Jan. 5: at Suns, 9 p.m.

Jan. 8: vs. Rockets, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 10: vs. Thunder, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 12: vs. Magic, 8 p.m.

Jan. 14: vs. Hornets, 6 p.m.

Jan. 15: at Nets, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 17: at Raptors, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 19: vs. Hawks, 8 p.m.

Jan. 21: at Magic, 6 p.m.

Jan. 24: vs. Grizzlies, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 25: vs. Celtics, 7:30 p.m. (TNT)

Jan. 27: at Knicks, 3 p.m. (ABC)

Jan. 29: vs. Suns, 7:30 p.m. (NBA TV)

Jan. 31: vs. Kings, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 2: at Wizards, 7 p.m.

Feb. 4: vs. Clippers, 6 p.m.

Feb. 6: vs. Magic, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 7: vs. Spurs, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 11: vs. Celtics, 2 p.m. (ABC)

Feb. 13: at Bucks, 8 p.m.

Feb. 14: at 76ers, 7 p.m.

ALL-STAR BREAK

Feb. 23: at Pelicans, 10 p.m. (ESPN)

Feb. 26: at Kings, 10 p.m. (NBA TV)

Feb. 27: at Trail Blazers, 10 p.m. (TNT)

Feb. 29: at Nuggets, 10 p.m. (TNT)

March 2: vs. Jazz, 5 p.m. (NBA TV)

March 5: vs. Pistons, 7:30 p.m.

March 7: at Mavericks, 7:30 p.m. (TNT)

March 8: at Thunder, 8 p.m.

March 10: vs. Wizards, 6 p.m.

March 13: vs. Nuggets, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)

March 15: at Pistons, 7 p.m.

March 17: at Pistons, 3 p.m.

March 18: at 76ers, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)

March 20: at Cavaliers, 7 p.m.

March 22: vs. Pelicans, 8 p.m. (NBA TV)

March 24: vs. Cavaliers, 6 p.m.

March 26: vs. Warriors, 7:30 p.m.

March 29: vs. Trail Blazers, 8 p.m.

March 31: at Wizards, 6 p.m.

April 2: vs. Knicks, 7:30 p.m.

April 4: vs. 76ers, 7:30 p.m. (TNT)

April 5: at Rockets, 8 p.m.

April 7: at Pacers, 5 p.m.

April 9: at Hawks, 7:30 p.m.

April 10: vs. Mavericks, 7:30 pm. (ESPN)

April 12: vs. Raptors, 8 p.m.

April 14: vs. Raptors, 1 p.m.

*in-season tournament group play game