NBA Takes Measures To Include More Rest In 2017-18 Schedule

Brian Windhorst of ESPN reports that each NBA team has received a memo from the league, outlining changes to the 2017-18 regular season schedule. The changes are designed to assist player recovery as well as prevent teams from sitting marquee players during nationally televised games. Per Windhorst:

Some of the new improvements include:

• Eliminating stretches of four games in five days and 18 games in 30 days.

• Reduction of five games in seven nights to just 40 instances across (1.3 per team), down from last year when it was on the schedule 90 times (three per team).

• Reduction in number of back-to-backs to 14.9 per team, down from 16.3 per team. In all, 40 back-to-backs have been eliminated from last season.

• Reduction of single-game road trips by 17 percent.

• Reduction in single-game road trips over 2,000 miles by 67 percent; there are only 11 of them on schedule.

• Increase in weekend games from 549 to 568, much of the boost coming on Saturdays. Previously the NBA avoided Saturdays and Sunday afternoons during football season to dodge conflicts.

The Portland Trail Blazers’ schedule has yet to be released, though, if years past are any indication, it can be expected in short order. To see the team’s 2016-17 schedule breakdown, follow this link.