Path to the playoffs?: Breaking down Sacramento Kings’ schedule for 2022-23 NBA season

The Kings will begin their quest to end the league’s longest playoff drought when they open the 2022-23 NBA season at home against the Portland Trail Blazers Oct. 19 at Golden 1 Center.

The NBA unveiled schedules for all 30 teams Wednesday, charting a course that will ultimately lead 16 teams to the playoffs. The Kings, who have added reinforcements around De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis, hope to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2006.

The 82-game schedule consists of 41 home games and 41 road games. The top six teams from the Eastern and Western conferences will gain automatic entry into the playoffs. Four more teams from each conference will compete in the play-in tournament for four remaining playoff bids.

The Kings will play five games on national television this season — all at home — against the Denver Nuggets on Dec. 28 (NBATV), Houston Rockets on Jan. 11 (ESPN), Memphis Grizzlies on Jan. 23 (NBATV), New Orleans Pelicans on March 6 (NBATV) and Boston Celtics on March 21 (NBATV).

The Kings will play nine of their first 15 games at home. They will play nine of their last 15 on the road. The schedule includes a six-game homestand in late December and a seven-game road trip from Jan. 28-Feb. 8. Of the team’s 15 back-to-back sets, five are home-home, five are away-away, three are away-home and two are home-away.

Four of the Kings’ first five games will be at home. The only road game during that stretch is a quick trip to San Francisco to face the Golden State Warriors.

Sacramento will play Portland in the season opener for the second year in a row. The Blazers are led by six-time All-Star Damian Lillard. This is the first time the Kings have played their season opener at home since the 2018-19 season. They are 24-13 in home openers during the Sacramento era dating back to 1985.

The Kings will then play host to the Los Angeles Clippers on Oct. 22 before visiting the Warriors on Oct. 23. The Kings will play the Warriors three times over the first 12 games of the season. They won’t see the Warriors again until they conclude the season series April 7 in Sacramento.

The Kings will get their first look at No. 1 draft pick Paolo Banchero when they visit the Orlando Magic on Nov. 5 as part of a four-game road trip. Their first game against the Los Angeles Lakers, who agreed to a two-year, $97.1 million contract extension with star LeBron James on Wednesday, will be Nov. 11 at Crypto.com Arena.

Former Kings guards Tyrese Haliburton and Buddy Hield will return to Sacramento when the Indiana Pacers visit Golden 1 Center on Nov. 30. Haliburton and Hield were traded to Indiana last season in the deal that brought Sabonis to Sacramento. Sabonis will make his return to Indiana on Feb. 3.

The Lakers will visit Sacramento on Dec. 21 and Jan. 7. The Kings will wrap up the season series against the Lakers on Jan. 18 in Los Angeles.

The six-game homestand in December will include games against the Charlotte Hornets, Lakers, Washington Wizards and Nuggets (2). The seven-game road trip starts with two games against the Minnesota Timberwolves and ends with two games against the Rockets.

The Kings went 30-52 to finish 12th in the Western Conference last season, missing the play-in tournament by four games. They expect to contend for a playoff spot this season following the additions of coach Mike Brown, rookie first-round draft pick Keegan Murray and a number of sharpshooters, including Kevin Huerter and Malik Monk.