The upstart Cavs will have nine national television games in 2022-23 season

The Cleveland Cavaliers will open the 2022-23 season in Toronto on Oct. 19 against the Raptors, the team announced Wednesday.

The team will play its home opener on Sunday, Oct. 23, against the Wizards.

Cleveland, who went 44-38 last season but missed the playoffs after falling to the Nets and Hawks in the Play-In Tournament, will make nine national television appearances in the 2022-23 season.

List of national television appearances:

-Two games on TNT (Dec. 6 vs. L.A. Lakers and Feb. 2 vs. Memphis).

-Three games on ESPN (Feb. 10 at New Orleans, March 1 at Boston and March 15 vs. Philadelphia).

-Four games on NBA TV (Nov. 7 at L.A. Clippers, Dec. 26 vs. Brooklyn, March 10 at Miami and March 21 at Brooklyn).

Highlights of the home schedule:

-NBA champion Golden State Warriors on Jan. 20

-Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics on Nov. 2 and March 6.

–Cleveland will also host the New Orleans Pelicans for a special Martin Luther King Jr. Day matinee game on Jan. 16.

-Additional marquee opponents coming to Cleveland only once this season include the L.A. Lakers on Dec. 6, the Dallas Mavericks on Dec. 17, the Phoenix Suns on Jan. 4, the L.A. Clippers on Jan. 29 and the Denver Nuggets on Feb. 23.

Schedule notes:

-The Cavaliers will match up against each Eastern Conference opponent four times with the exception of Washington (two home, one road), Atlanta (one home, two road), Philadelphia (two home, one road) and Brooklyn (one home, two road).Each Western Conference opponent will play the Cavaliers twice – once at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse and once on the road.

-23 home weekend dates including eight home Friday games, five home Saturday games and nine home Sunday games.

-12 sets of back-to-back games, including four road-road sets (Nov. 6-7, Nov. 27-28, Jan. 26-27 and Feb. 5-6), three road-home sets (Oct. 22-23, Feb. 10-11 and March 14-15), four home-home sets (Nov. 20-21, Dec. 9-10, Dec. 16-17 and Jan. 20-21) and one home-road set (Feb. 23-24).

-The Cavaliers will have a six-game homestand from Dec. 16-26, featuring contests versus Indiana (Dec. 16), Dallas (Dec. 17), Utah (Dec. 19), Milwaukee (Dec. 21), Toronto (Dec. 23) and Brooklyn (Dec. 26). It marks Cleveland longest homestand since six straight home games during the 2019-20 season.

-Cleveland’s longest road trip spans five games over nine days from Jan 6-14; the team also has a five-game road trip over eight days from Nov. 4-11, one four-game road trip (March 8-14), two three-game road trips (Nov. 25-29, Jan. 24-27) and six two-game road trips (Oct. 19-22, Dec. 12-14, Dec. 29-31, Feb. 5-6, March 21-23 and April 4-6).

-The Cavaliers will play games on Veterans Day (Nov. 11 at Golden State), Thanksgiving Eve (Nov. 23 vs. Portland), New Years Eve (Dec. 31 at Chicago), MLK Day (Jan. 16 vs. New Orleans) and on Easter (April 9 vs. Charlotte).

-Two matinee games at home this season – Monday, Jan. 16 vs. New Orleans (MLK Day) and Sunday, April 9 vs. Charlotte (Easter).

-The Cavaliers will play 16 games in November and January, their most in any months during the 2022-23 season. Cleveland will also play six games in October, 15 games in December, 11 games in February, 14 games in March and four games in April.

–The Cavaliers will wrap up the 2022-23 regular season schedule at home against the Charlotte Hornets on April 9.