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| | Thursday, July 27 Lakers, Blazers open season on Oct. 31 | |||||
| ESPN.com news services NEW YORK -- Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant and the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers will begin defense of their NBA title against the team they almost lost to in their playoff run. The Lakers will open the season on Oct. 31 at the Portland Trail Blazers. The Lakers rallied to beat Portland in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals before beating Indiana in the Finals. The Lakers-Blazers opener will be televised nationally on TBS. The defending Eastern Conference champion Pacers, under new coach Isiah Thomas, will open the season at the San Antonio Spurs. In all, 26 teams will open the season on Oct. 31. Other opening day games include the Knicks hosting Philadelphia; Vince Carter's Raptors hosting Detroit; and the New Jersey Nets, with No. 1 draft pick Kenyon Martin, playing host to Cleveland. New-look Orlando will host the Wizards on opening day, and then will play at Miami the next night in the Heat's season opener. The first time Grant Hill leads the Magic against his old team, the Detroit Pistons, isn't until Dec. 28, at Orlando. NBC will carry 33 regular-season games, including six doubleheaders and five tripleheaders. The Christmas Day doubleheader features Orlando at Indiana and Portland at the Lakers. The network will also show the All-Star Game at Washington on Sunday, Feb. 11. On Thanksgiving Day, Carter and the Raptors visit Indiana. TNT and TBS will televise 80 games, with TBS showing its games on Tuesdays and TNT on Wednesdays and Thursdays. TBS has 28 games, including doubleheaders Nov. 28, Dec. 5, and Dec. 26. TNT has 52 games, with eight doubleheaders. | ALSO SEE Complete 2000-2001 NBA schedule 2000-2001 NBA TV schedule ESPN Radio NBA schedule | |||||