NBA Schedule 2012: Boston Celtics and More Teams Screwed by Short Season

The Boston Celtics are going to struggle severely with the 2011-2012 NBA season schedule.

The fact that their aging veterans are going to have to play a lot more games in a much shorter time period means that things aren’t looking good for this group to capture a top seed in the East.

They also have to take on the Mavericks, Lakers and Thunder twice each in their non-conference schedule, and all six of those games are going to take a hell of an effort to win.

However, there are also some other teams that people haven’t really been talking about who will be playing a grueling 66 games between Christmas and the end of April.

Let’s take a look at some of these teams.

Oklahoma City Thunder

The Thunder have to take on the Celtics, Heat and Magic twice each, and they have arguably the hardest schedule in the West against non-conference opponents.

Fortunately, they are one of the youngest teams in the league and are best equipped to handle the constant pounding that their legs are going to take over the four-plus months.

New York Knicks

The Knicks only won 42 games last season and did not drastically improve after adding Carmelo Anthony. This team isn’t one of the elite in the East yet, despite what the New York media hype has you believing.

They have home-and-homes against the Lakers and Mavericks, and that certainly isn’t going to help their chances to take the Atlantic Division from the Celtics in 2011-2012.

Cleveland Cavaliers

This franchise cannot catch a break.

Despite having a record 26-game losing streak last season and winning just 19 on the year, the team drew a tough schedule this year.

They’ll be seeing the Spurs, Suns and Jazz twice this year, and I can see them losing all six of those games.