2010-2011 NBA Schedule Breakdown: The Los Angeles Clippers

Now that the NBA regular season schedule has been released, it's time to look at it from different points of view. The Los Angeles Clippers have a new and improved team and as they continue to prepare for the season, let's stop for a second and take a look at their schedule for the 2010-2011 season.

The Facts:

Games against 2009-2010 playoff teams: 43

Home Games: 41 Away Games: 41 

Note: Most of the home games are concentrated in the first half of the season, while the second half is primarily composed of away games.

Games against Lakers, Mavs, Nuggets, Magic, Celtics, Heat: 18

Games against Wolves, Cavs, Raptors, Warriors, Nets, Pistons: 16

As the Clippers will be playing a lot of games against other teams in the Pacific Division, I feel it's important to recognize that the division will be fairly strong again this season. The Lakers will dominate as usual, and although the Suns lost Stoudemire, they will be strong as well. Golden State got David Lee, but they are still in the division's basement. The Kings are looking good after adding DeMarcus Cousins. It seems that the Clippers will likely battle with the Kings for third place.

Now let's take a look at the Clippers' schedule month by month

October/November:

The Clippers start off the season with a difficult schedule. Seven of their first nine games are against western conference playoff teams and the other two games are both on the road. After that the schedule calms down for the rest of the month. Only two of their remaining nine opponents made the playoff teams. They play a three game stretch of Detroit, Minnesota, and New Jersey which should translate into at least two wins.

The first half of these games are difficult games against playoff teams, but the second half should be pretty easy. If the Clippers can go 4-5 in the first nine games, they might be able to get off to a quick start in the first month.

December: 

December will no doubt be a tough month for the Clippers. Eight of their 15 opponents made the playoffs last season, They also have to play a developing young Memphis team as well as Houston, who will likely have Yao Ming back, and Sacramento twice. Most of their difficult games are at home, which should make it slightly less difficult.

December is where we will find out whether or not the Clippers are are legit. Playing all these great teams early in the year will help the Clippers prepare for the rest of the season.

January: 

Although eight of the 14 teams the Clippers play in January are playoff teams, only a few of them are good enough to have had home court advantage. They do have to play the Lakers and the Heat, but they also get to play Golden State three times, as well as Indiana and Minnesota once each. The Clippers have only have four road games in January so hopefully they can take advantage.

January will be an important month for the Clippers because they really have a chance to improve their record drastically. They will have some tough games, but they are winnable games.

February:

Wow. In February, the Clippers play just two games at home while playing 12 road games, including 11 in a row. Their two home games are against the Celtics and the Bulls. Tough luck. They do get to play Cleveland, Toronto, and Minnesota in a four game stretch which should be nice, but with only two home games in February I have a hard time imagining it will be an easy month for the Clippers.

March/April:

The Clippers have a pretty balanced schedule the rest of the way. They have a good mix of good and bad teams as well as home and away games. They do have a nice seven game stretch in the middle of March where they don't have any games against playoff teams, but overall it should be pretty average as far as difficulty goes. 

Note: The second half of March should be very easy, but it is balanced out by the difficulty of April.

Hardest Month: December

Easiest Month: January

In general, the Clippers have a decent schedule. They have their fair share of tough games, but they should be able to play well. They have to play the Lakers four times, but they get to play Minnesota four times as well. I would say after initially looking at their schedule my expectations for the Clippers have not change. I stand by my prediction of 40-42.

Five must see games:

October 27, at home against the Portland Trail Blazers: It's the nationally televised season opener for the Clips. No fan will miss this one.

December 8, Los Angeles Lakers: This will be the first of four between the Clippers and the Lakers. The Clippers have dominated this series in recent years, we'll see if the Clippers can turn it around.

January 12, at home against the Miami Heat: We'll see how the Clippers stack up against the NBA's most talented teams in their first of two meetings. Hey, at least they'll sell some tickets.

February 25, Los Angeles Lakers: We'll see how the Clippers perform in their return to the Staples Center after 10 straight road games in their third game against Kobe and the Lakers.

April 6, at the Oklahoma City Thunder: The Clips will face off against one of the NBA's rising teams. They should probably bring their note pads. This match-up could get even more interesting if they are both in contention for a playoff spot (fingers crossed).

The Clippers will be fun to watch this year. They will have their ups and downs like any young team, but hopefully they can pull it together and potentially put together a rare winning season. The size of the contributions made by their incoming players will ultimately decide where the Clippers finish in the standings. Now that the final schedule is set, we can officially turn our attention from the offseason, to the upcoming NBA regular season.