The Raptors aren't going to ease into the 2009-10 NBA schedule.
Starting with an opening weekend that includes a home date with LeBron James, Shaquille O'Neal and the Cleveland Cavaliers and a visit from the defending Eastern Conference champion Orlando Magic, the first three weeks of the season are going to be a true test. Eight of the team's first dozen games are on the road, including four- and three-game trips through the Western Conference.
The start of the season is the most compressed travel portion of the entire year that sees no road trip longer than four games and a holiday travel schedule that's far less taxing than it has been for years.
After spending more than two weeks on the road over the holidays the last two winters, usually with trips to the West Coast involved, Toronto plays at Detroit on Dec. 23 and then does not have a road game until Jan. 2 in Boston.
The team's lone appearance - at the moment - on national television in the United States is a Jan. 15 game at New York on ESPN, although there remains a possibility of adding games later in the season.
The team's local television schedule, to be split again between TSN, TSN2, The Score, CBC and RaptorTV, isn't expected to be released until September.
Other highlights:
The busiest home dates, as usual, are Sundays (15 games) and Wednesdays (14).
After playing 25 road games from October to the end of January, the Raptors have only 16 in February, March and April.
The longest homestand is just four games, three before and one after the Feb.12-14 all-star break.
The Raptors play the Magic three times before Dec. 16, giving fans all kinds of opportunities to digest the moves of Hedo Turkoglu to Toronto and Vince Carter to Orlando.
The most popular Western Conference visits are spread out; Steve Nash and Phoenix are in Toronto on Nov. 29, the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers are at the Air Canada Centre on Jan. 24.
