After a week filled with leaks and a slow drip of game matchups by NBA insiders, the entire 2022-23 schedule has been released by the Memphis Grizzlies.
We’ve known about a handful of these games already, but to see them all cobbled together is exciting and lets fans start to plan and save up some extra money to attend games.
For those in the Memphis-metro area, there are 18 games being played on Friday, Saturday and Sunday inside FedEx Forum this year and 23 occurring Monday through Thursday.
There’s a lot to dissect about the new schedule, so let’s dive in.
Memphis Grizzlies awarded record number of national TV games
The Memphis Grizzlies will play in front of a national tv audience more times than ever before in 2022-23. The team will appear on broadcast and cable television 28 times this season, the majority of which will be on ESPN.
Here’s the breakdown:
- 10 games on NBATV
- 9 games on ESPN
- 7 games on TNT
- 2 on ABC
The 2022-23 NBA schedule has officially dropped for the Memphis Grizzlies! pic.twitter.com/zqhRCvcNQj
— Beale Street Bears (@BealeStBearsFS) August 17, 2022
In fact, the Grizzlies will be on national TV five times in a six-game stretch beginning March 2, 2023 and ending March 13, 2023.
That’s the good news. The bad news, is it comes during a stretch of games in which they’ll play the Denver Nuggets, LA Clippers, LA Lakers, Golden State Warriors, and Dallas Mavericks (twice). It’ll be a really tough schedule to play out in front of a national audience, but hopefully the team will be full strength by then and Jaren Jackson Jr. and Danny Green are both healthy enough to be playing by then.
It’s nice to finally get that validation from the league that the Grizzlies are a marquee team and are getting preferred treatment when it comes to being put on the national stage.
Not counting NBATV games, the Grizzlies have the ninth-most nationally televised games this season (18). They trail Golden State (30), LA Lakers (27), Boston (25), Milwaukee (23), Philadelphia (23), Phoenix (22), Dallas (21) and the LA Clippers (20).
We know when Kyle Anderson and De’Anthony Melton return to FedEx Forum
Kyle Anderson returns to the FedEx Forum for the first time as a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves on November 11, 2022 at 8:30 PM on ESPN.
It’s also a one-game rematch of the extremely difficult first-round series the Grizzlies experienced in last season’s playoffs.
The new-look Timberwolves, with Anderson and All-Star Rudy Gobert, will be even more difficult to stop this season.
De’Anthony Melton will return to Memphis for the first time as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers on December 2, 2022 at 7 p.m.
He’ll bring with him All-Stars Joel Embiid and James Harden to take on the Grizzlies in an early season home matchup.
Memphis Grizzlies have a punishing road schedule in 2022-23
The Grizzlies will have six sets of road trips that are three games or longer this season. They’ll play four road games in a row Oct. 27 through Nov. 2 when they face Sacramento, Utah, Utah (again), and Portland.
They’ll take another four-game trip Dec. 17 through 25 (OKC, Denver, Phoenix, Golden State).
They’ll embark on an insane five-game (mostly) west-coast road trip from Jan. 20 through 27 (LA Lakers, Phoenix, Sacramento, Golden State and Minnesota).
Another four-game road set will come March 1 through March 7 in which they play at Houston, Denver and the LA Clippers and Lakers.
They’ll play two home games and then hit the road again for three consecutive road games March 13 through 17 at Dallas, Miami and San Antonio.
The Grizzlies end the season with a three-game road trip April 5 through 9 at New Orleans, Milwaukee, and Oklahoma City.
But, even despite the long trips, the Grizzlies have the seventh-easiest schedule in the league (based on strength of schedule) this year according to analytics site Positive Residual.
Memphis Grizzlies fans will have some conflicts in their viewing schedules
The Grizzlies are going to have to contend with just one Memphis Tigers football game this season. The Tigers travel to Tulane on Saturday, Oct. 22 (time TBD) and the Grizzlies will also play that day— 7:30 PM at Dallas on NBA TV.
The Memphis Tigers basketball team and the Grizzlies will have at least seven games on the same day this season, but none happening in the same city— which makes things a bit easier on the logistical side of things since they both play inside the FedEx Forum.
The Tigers have not revealed their conference schedule yet, so there is the potential for more games to overlap on the schedule. But here are the games we know will overlap for sure:
- Nov. 7: Tigers at Vanderbilt / Grizzlies vs Boston
- Nov. 15: Tigers at Saint Louis / Grizzlies vs @ New Orleans
- Nov. 20: Tigers vs VCU / Grizzlies @ Brooklyn
- Nov. 25: Tigers vs Oklahoma or Nebraska / Grizzlies vs New Orleans
- Nov. 27: Tigers vs Florida State, Stanford, Ole Miss or Siena / Grizzlies @ New York
- Nov. 30: Tigers vs North Alabama / Grizzlies @ Minnesota
- Dec. 17: Tigers vs Texas A&M / Grizzlies @ Oklahoma City
Some other notable dates in which the Memphis Grizzlies are playing: January 9, 2023, which is when the College Football National Championship game will take place. The Grizzlies will host the San Antonio Spurs that night.
Additionally, the Grizzlies will be play on Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 12) at Boston in the afternoon. That game should be completed in time to start your tailgating or homegating for the big game.
Memphis is also competing on on Christmas Day (@ Golden State), New Year’s Eve (vs New Orleans) and New Year’s Day (vs Sacramento).
Grizzlies and Warriors meet for the first time on Christmas Day
The NBA was smart to schedule the Grizzlies on Christmas Day against the Warriors. It’s even more brilliant that they are holding the first meeting between these two teams until December 25.
It makes it that much more special and the will build even more excitement. There’s going to be a ton of chatter in the game and no one is going to be backing down from anyone in this game.
The game is set for December 25 at 7 p.m. CT on ABC. It’s going to be one of the most-watched games of NBA regular season game.