2012 NBA schedule: Warriors open the season on Halloween

The NBA opens the season tomorrow with a couple of big matchups in each conference. The Miami Heat square off against their opponent from last year's Eastern Conference Finals, the Boston Celtics. This time though, Ray Allen will be on the bench with the Heat, alongside former Seattle Sonics teammate Rashard Lewis. The Los Angeles Lakers begin the season with highly-touted acquisitions Dwight Howard and Steve Nash against a limping Dallas Mavericks team missing Dirk Nowitzki, who is out while recovering from knee surgery. The Celtics and Heat tip off at 5 p.m. PT on TNT, with the Lakers and Mavericks following at 7:30 p.m. PT on TNT.

The Golden State Warriors start the year against the Phoenix Suns, who lost Nash to the Lakers in the offseason. With Monta Ellis' departure in the Andrew Bogut trade, the Warriors are hoping Stephen Curry, second-year guard Klay Thompson and rookie Harrison Barnes can pick up the scoring slack along with David Lee. The team is still unsure if Bogut will play in the opener on Halloween. The Warriors and Suns are scheduled to get underway at 7 p.m. PT.

Other games of note in the coming days:

Wednesday, Oct. 31: Memphis Grizzlies vs. Los Angeles Clippers, 7:30 p.m. PT.

Thursday, Nov. 1: New York Knicks vs. Brooklyn Nets, 4 p.m. PT on TNT

Thursday, Nov. 1: Oklahoma City Thunder vs. San Antonio Spurs, 6:30 p.m. PT on TNT

Check out the full schedule for NBA games at Sports Illustrated.