I don't think there's any way we'll have the same matchup opening day and Xmas so the rumors are contradictory. I figure we'll get the Lakers whichever time we don't get Philly. Lakers-Celtics and Rockets-Warriors really seems like a dynamite opening night but they usually try to do one all-East and one all-West.
I'm surprised but not surprised that the Knicks got the noon game that's almost always awful because the Knicks get it all the time. I figured they were still too bad and low on national stars and they'd do Bucks-Sixers there instead.
Portland @ Utah as well
What??
At Portland would make more sense to me - the late late game at 10:30 Eastern usually starts in the Pacific Time Zone and the Lakers+Warriors get more prominent timeslots, so Portland gets a lot of those games.