Miami Heat Season Schedule Announced, Heat Is On
MIAMI (CBS4)- The heat is on as the Miami Heat announced its 2011-12 regular season schedule Tuesday, with individual game tickets going on sale on Friday.
The 66-game schedule consists of 33 home dates, all at AmericanAirlines Arena, and 33 road contests, and runs from December 25, 2011 through April 26, 2012.
Miami kicks off its 24th season when it travels to Dallas in an NBA Finals rematch to face the Mavericks at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, December 25. This marks the eighth time in franchise history that the team will open the season on the road, and the first time it will face the Mavericks on opening day.
Don't plan on traveling? The Heat plays its first home contest on Tuesday, December 27 at 8 p.m. against the Boston Celtics.
According to the team, the schedule features several exciting match-ups, including a visit by the 2011 NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks on March 29 at 8 p.m.
The Boston Celtics will be back, making their second visit to Miami on April 10 at 7 p.m., while the New York Knicks visit Miami on January 27 at 8 p.m. and February 23 at 7 p.m. The Chicago Bulls will visit Miami on January 29 on 3:30 p.m. and April 19 at 8 p.m., while the Los Angeles Lakers visit Miami on January 19 at 8 p.m.
The Heat's longest homestand will be two five-game stretches from January 17 to 24 and April 3 to10. Miami's longest road trip is a six-game excursion from February 8 to17. Additionally, the Heat will play 18 back-to-backs, and one back-to-back-to-back from February 12 to 14.
Are you a home game fan? Miami will have 11 home games in January, and 10 in April. The month in which Miami plays the highest number of games is January, when the HEAT hits the hardwood 17 times, according to the team.
The month the Heat is on the road the most is March, with 10 games away from AmericanAirlines Arena. The revised schedule contains 27 games that remain unchanged (date & opponent) from the original schedule, and another 22 games that are the same date, but are against different teams.
Individual game tickets for all 2011-12 regular season home games will go on sale to the general public on Friday, December 9 at p.m.
Tickets can be purchased by logging onto Heat.com, Ticketmaster.com, by visiting any Ticketmaster location, or by calling 1-800-4NBA-TIX.
Tickets will NOT be available at the Ticket Office at the AmericanAirlines Arena for the December 9 on-sale date. Tickets can be purchased at the AmericanAirlines Arena Ticket Office starting on Monday, December 12 at 10 a.m.
All You Can HEAT partial ticket plans were available for purchase exclusively on HEAT.com starting tonight, December 6 at 8:30 p.m.
Although the Miami HEAT has sold out of its existing season ticket inventory for the 2011-12 season, HEAT fans can purchase a HEAT Priority Access Club membership – an annual, fee-based membership which guarantees priority on the Season Ticket Waiting List as well as presale opportunities for individual game tickets, guaranteed access to buy 2012 Playoff tickets and other benefits.
The HEAT will make 27 national television appearances, with Miami appearing 10 times on ESPN, nine times on TNT, six times on ABC and two times on NBA TV. Sun Sports will air a total of 54 regular season HEAT games and both pre-season games locally, all in high definition, according to the team.
