Cleveland Cavaliers: The Most Important Games of the 2011-2012 Schedule

The new NBA schedule was released today for the 2011-2012 season, providing that one does exist.

As expected, the Knicks, Lakers, Heat and Mavericks were given most of the prime time spotlight games.

The Cavaliers, despite showcasing the league's first and fourth overall picks, were given a whopping one nationally-televised game—apparently the two last year were just a little much.

Anyway, for all the local Cavs faithful who tune in to Fox Sports Ohio, here are the games you won't want to miss for the 2011-2012 season.

Nov. 2: Cavs at Celtics (Opening Night)

Once again, the Cavaliers begin the season against the Celtics, this time in Boston.

Last year Cleveland actually had one of their best (and yes, few) wins of the season on opening night, knocking off the heavily-favored Celtics at home 95-87.

This season's Celtics team should still be very good, even though Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett will be between 33-36 years of age. Don't expect them to overlook the Cavs this year either.

It will also mark the first game of Kyrie Irving's and Tristan Thompson's careers, careers that we hope will be long, productive and injury-free.

Win or lose, it will be good to put last season behind and move on with the current one—one that hopefully will be the start of a Cavaliers return to the NBA's elite.

Nov. 4: Raptors at Cavs (Home-Opener)

The Cavaliers' first home game of the season falls on the first Friday of November, and you better believe the Q will be rockin'.

This game marks the first time the home fans can see Irving and Thompson in person, plus playing against the lowly Raptors will give the Cavs a good chance at a home-opener W.

Jonas Valanciunas will be in Toronto next year, but only time will tell if Cleveland made a mistake passing him over in the draft.

Nov. 18: Heat at Cavs

The Cavs' one and only nationally-televised game comes against the Miami Heat in the third week of the season on TNT.

Yes, this means plenty of commentary from newly-hired TNT analyst Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley about Kyrie Irving filling LeBron's shoes, and why Shaq and LeBron couldn't get it done for the Cavs in 2010.

It's sad that the only time Cleveland gets any attention is when they play the Heat. Hopefully that changes after this year.

Dec. 13: Clippers at Cavs

First off, this is my favorite Mo Williams (and Mike Brown) highlight video.

Mid-December sees Mo Williams and the rest of the Clippers making their first trip to the Q since the trade that sent Baron Davis (and Kyrie Irving) to Cleveland.

Like Hickson, Mo had good and bad times in Cleveland, but he should be remembered for all the positive contributions he made to the team. 

Both full seasons in Cleveland, Mo was the second-leading scorer on the Cavs, helping them to a No. 1 seed in the playoffs both years. He made one All-Star team and was an excellent deep threat on a team that lacked one for so many seasons before.

However, the best contribution Williams ever made to Cleveland will forever be his trade, which resulted in the 2011 NBA Draft's first overall pick, Kyrie Irving.

Cavs fans should again give him a nice reception, but also be glad they have Irving now instead.

Jan. 31: T-Wolves at Cavs

Many weren't sure about the Cavs taking Irving over Arizona's Derrick Williams in the draft.

Jan. 31 should begin to reveal if they made the right decision or not.

Irving should be the clear starter at point guard for the Cavaliers by this time, although Williams may be coming off the bench if Michael Beasley remains the starting small forward.

It will take years to determine who the better pro will be, although both should enjoy great careers.

Feb. 19: Kings at Cavs

This game marks the first time J.J. Hickson returns to Cleveland since the June 30 trade for Omri Casspi.

Fans may have mixed reactions about Hickson returning, although I expect the majority of it to be positive.

Hickson was drafted by Cleveland, spent his first three years there and has since praised the organization and the fans since being traded.

While Hickson never did anything of great value while on the team, he was always exciting to watch and deserves to receive a nice ovation from Cavs fans upon his return.

April 18: Knicks at Cavs

The Cavaliers' final game of the regular season comes against New York, a team they owned (for whatever reason) last year.

The Knicks will likely be fighting for a high seed in the East while the Cavaliers—who knows—may be fighting for a low seed in the playoffs themselves.

The final game is always an important one to tune in to, as you can get a good sense of the progress the team has made since early November. It should also be clear who the winners of the major awards will be, including Rookie of the Year.

Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson will have officially completed their rookie seasons, Omri Casspi his first year in Cleveland and Baron Davis will only be an early termination option away from extremely high cap space for the Cavs.

So many questions will have been answered by then.

For Cavalier fans, one important one remains: Are you ready?