The 2012-13 NBA schedule has officially been released, and the excitement and anticipation for events that won't kick off for another three months are already sky-high.

(Click here for full schedule.)

The season will kick off Oct. 30 when the Boston Celtics visit the defending champion Miami Heat in a rematch of the Eastern Conference finals. The Dallas Mavericks will be at the Los Angeles Lakers in the other televised opening-night game.

Other notable games include Christmas Day affairs with a slew of juicy matchups (via Yahoo! Sports' Marc Spears):

 

Naturally, Twitter was abuzz with split-second reactions dissecting the best and worst features of the slate. Here are some of the most memorable tweets.

 

The New York Knicks will be on the road on Christmas Day against the Los Angeles Lakers, and Matt Moore of CBS Sports believes it's another NBA conspiracy:

 

Moore also provides us with the amount of prime-time games for the Lakers and Miami Heat:

 

Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Times wonders which team Dwight Howard will be playing for when the Lakers play the Magic:

 

St. Patty’s Day is always a big deal in Boston, and the party will have to continue another day as Ethan J. Skolnick of the Palm Beach Post points out:

 

One of the biggest losers of the new schedule is Denver. Aaron J. Lopez of Nuggets.com has the gory details of a brutal two-month stretch:

 

While the Nuggets have it tough early, Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group details the forgiving schedule for the Golden State Warriors down the stretch:

 

According to Bulls.com, the team will be playing at home on a certain day for the first time since the Michael Jordan era:

 

CNBC reporter Darren Rovell wonders why the NBA is putting such an emphasis on Halloween night:

 

The Indiana Pacers are coming off their best season in quite some time, and coach Frank Vogel certainly isn’t shaking in his boots after glancing over the 82-game list for the new year. At least that’s what G.M. Kevin Pritchard tells us:

 

And the winner for tweet of the night goes to 2012 Phoenix Suns first round pick Kendall Marshall. It sounds like the lack of primetime games for the Suns is going to cost his parents some dough:

 

Intriguing Matchups

Nov. 1: New York Knicks at Brooklyn Nets

Dec. 17: Houston Rockets at New York Knicks

Jan. 16: Brooklyn Nets at Atlanta Hawks

Jan. 17: Miami Heat at Los Angeles Lakers

Jan. 30: Los Angeles Lakers at Phoenix Suns

March 16: New York Knicks at Denver Nuggets

March 18: Miami Heat at Boston Celtics

March 22: Boston Celtics at Dallas Mavericks

 

Creating the schedule is always a daunting task, and naturally it didn't please everybody. But there is no question the slate is chock-full of must-see TV that has fans craving for games right now.

Let the countdown to the 2012-13 season begin!