Breaking Down Blazers' 2013-14 NBA Schedule

The Portland Trail Blazers' 2013-14 regular season was officially released by the NBA on Tuesday.

Full schedule details are right here.

Here's a quick round-up of schedule breakdowns.

Candace Buckner of The Columbian has a thorough month-by-month breakdown...

All the offseason improvements will be put to the test as the Blazers face nine playoff teams from the previous year, and do so before the end of November. After the San Antonio home opener, the Blazers welcome the Houston Rockets (Nov. 5) -- the 8th seed in the Western Conference last year but now vastly improved with the addition of Dwight Howard to complement James Harden and Chandler Parsons.

In an interesting twist in the NBA schedule, power forward Thomas Robinson, who came over from Houston as the Rockets worked to clear space for Howard, will face his two former teams in back-to-back games. After Houston, Robinson gets a crack at the Sacramento Kings on Nov. 8, which also marks the first of the Blazers' 11 scheduled nationally-televised games.

...

The month of March --also known as the Pack Extra Toothpaste Month -- features two sets of five-game road trips. ... If Portland remains in the postseason hunt by March, then this month could either make or break the playoff hopes.

Casey Holdahl of Blazers.com also has a schedule breakdown right here...

Playing 19 back-to-backs in a season feels about normal, though that's two more than we had last season. Having a quarter of your road schedule comprised of the second night of back-to-back games is no great shakes, but that comes with the territory of being in the farthest reaches of the NBA landscape. Same for having two four-game road trips that are nothing but two sets of back-to-back games. This will be where having a more robust bench will come in handy.

-- This team is going to have to get to know each other on the road, as ten of their first 16 games are away games. That's the bad news. The good news is that they'll end the season with seven of their final ten games coming at the Rose Garden, which will be particularly helpful should the Trail Blazers be in the playoff hunt.

Mike Tokito of The Oregonian writes...

If the Blazers are in the playoff hunt after the All-Star break, they will be severely tested in March, which includes two five-game road trips. Early in the month, they are at Dallas, Houston, Memphis, San Antonio and New Orleans. Later in the month, they go to Charlotte, Miami, Orlando, Atlanta and Chicago. The latter trip includes two back-to-backs.

After the second trip, the Blazers play six of their final eight games at home, including their final two - against Golden State on Sunday, April 13, and against the Clippers on Wednesday, April 16.

Kevin Zimmerman of SBNation.com crunched the numbers on back-to-backs, finding that 10 teams have more back-to-backs than the Blazers, who have 19. Nine of those 10 teams have 20 back-to-backs; the Charlotte Bobcats have 21.

Zach Harper of CBSSports.com included an April 6 game between the Blazers and the New Orleans Pelicans on his list of the most interesting games of the season.

This could end up being an incredibly important game late in the season. Both the [Pelicans] and the Blazers have playoff aspirations after a huge offseason for both teams. The Blazers got themselves a deep bench after sporting one of the worst second units in recent basketball memory last season. The [Pelicans] acquired Tyreke Evans and Jrue Holiday this offseason in an attempt to overwhelm opposing perimeter defenders. And even if this game doesn't end up being played between two teams fighting for the eighth seed always remember...

ROBIN LOPEZ REVENGE GAME!

David MacKay of RipCityProject.com writes...

The official 2013-2014 NBA schedule was released today, and Portland's very first matchup is on the road in Phoenix. Though the Suns aren't exactly top dog in the NBA, the Western Conference, or even the Pacific Division, I'm glad to see them on opening night. Why? Because after being trounced by the Summer League juggernaut TWICE, Portland's rookies will have something to prove from day 1.

Basketball advanced stats guru Ed Kupfer notes that the Blazers will travel the second-most miles during the 2013-14 season, trailing only the Minnesota Timberwolves (and barely)...

Last year, Kupfer found that the Blazers led the league in miles logged. You can follow Ed on Twitter here.

The Blazers made three appearances on my list of the 50 NBA games to circle on your calendar.

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