Blazers Announce 2011-2012 NBA Schedule (66-Game Lockout Edition)

The Portland Trail Blazers have announced their 2011-2012 NBA schedule on Blazers.com and via press release. Here's a printable version in PDF. The Blazers will play 66 games during the abbreviated season with 48 coming against Western Conference foes and 18 against Eastern Conference opponents.

The Blazers open their season on Dec. 26 at home against the Philadelphia 76ers in the Rose Garden.

Monthly breakdown

• December: 3 -- 3 home, 0 road
• January: 18 -- 7 home, 11 road
• February: 14 -- 8 home, 6 road
• March: 17 -- 8 home, 9 road
• April: 14 -- 7 home, 7 road

Each Western Conference team will only play three Eastern Conference teams twice. The Blazers will play the Milwaukee Bucks, Atlanta Hawks and Washington Wizards twice.

Update: I created this chart to compare Portland's draw here to other teams around the league. The chart lays out the win differentials between all 30 NBA teams and the three non-conference opponents they have to play twice based on last year's results. The Blazers have a differential of +14 (48 wins last year and an average of 34 opponent wins) which happens to be the fourth highest differential in the league (trailing only San Antonio, Chicago and Houston). So if you thought drawing Milwaukee, Atlanta and Washington was a stroke of very good luck for the Blazers, you were right.

Eastern Conference home vs. road games

Each Western Conference team will play the other 12 Eastern Conference teams just once. Of note, the Blazers will travel for road games against the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls but will get the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat at home.

The Blazers previously announced a home-and-home 2-game preseason schedule with the Utah Jazz on Dec. 19 and Dec. 21.

Click through for the full schedule and the text of the press release. Chime in with your thoughts and win prediction totals in the comments!

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter

Here's the schedule via Blazers.com.

Here's the press release...

The Portland Trail Blazers will tip-off their 42nd NBA season by hosting the Philadelphia 76ers as part of a three-game home stand, marking the third straight year the team has opened at the Rose Garden.

All 66 Trail Blazers games (33 home, 33 away) will be aired on the Trail Blazers Broadcast Television Network or national carriers. Portland's complete broadcast schedule will be available in the coming days.

Portland plays seven of its first 10 games at home and closes the season by playing five of its last six on the road. The schedule includes a six-game road trip (Jan. 13-21) and a season-high, seven-game trip (March 7-18).

The Trail Blazers will face each Western Conference opponent at least three times, including four contests with Golden State, the L.A. Clippers, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, Sacramento and Utah.

Each of Portland's four Northwest Division opponents will visit the Rose Garden twice. The Trail Blazers will make two trips to both Oklahoma City and Utah, while visiting Minnesota and Denver just once.

Portland will play 18 games against Eastern Conference opponents (nine home, nine away). The Trail Blazers will face each Eastern Conference opponent at least once, including two games against Atlanta, Milwaukee and Washington.

The 66-game schedule features two back-to-back-to-back scenarios (Jan. 23-25, Feb. 14-16) and 16 back-to-back games.

Among the top teams making the trip to the Rose City in 2011-12: the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks on April 13; the defending Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat on March 1 and the Western Conference rival L.A. Lakers on Jan. 5.

The Trail Blazers close out the 2011-12 NBA regular season at Utah on Thursday, April 26.

Tickets for individual games go on sale on Tuesday, Dec. 13, at 10 a.m., exclusively on trailblazers.com.

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter