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2011-2012 NBA Schedule: Season Will Start On Christmas Day

With the NBA lockout over and a tentative agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement reached, the Minnesota Timberwolves are set to play regular season basketball within a month. A 66-game regular season will start on Christmas Day and will run until April 26, 2012. The playoffs, which the Timberwolves are aiming to reach for the first time since 2004, are scheduled to begin on April 28, 2012.

Each team will play 48 in-conference games and 18 non-conference games. The full breakdown of these games is as follows, via NBA.com:

Conference Games: 48

• Play 6 teams 4 times (2 home, 2 away)

• Play 4 teams 3 times (2 home, 1 away)

• Play 4 teams 3 times (1 home, 2 away)

Non-Conference Games: 18

• Play 3 teams 2 times (1 home, 1 away)

• Play 6 teams 1 time at home

• Play 6 teams 1 time away

Back to Back to Backs: All teams with at least 1; no more than 3

Playoff Back to Backs: Possible in second round

The heavier dose of in-conference games might not work in Minnesota's favor considering they finished 22 games behind the fourth place Utah Jazz in the Northwest Division and the Western Conference is generally considered to be stronger than the Eastern Conference. But Minnesota's youth might be a blessing in what will be a busier NBA schedule than usual.

The official, full team schedules have not been released, but the Timberwolves were originally scheduled to host the Oklahoma City Thunder on Dec. 26 and it is possible that they will still do so.

Photographs by Micah Taylor, clairity, and Fibonacci Blue used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.