ATLANTA (Aug. 2, 2004) -- The Atlanta Hawks today announced their 2004-05 National Basketball Association (NBA) schedule and for the first time in Atlanta history, the franchise will have to start the season with three consecutive road games before hosting LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 37th home opener on Tuesday, November 9 at 7:30 p.m. eastern.
The debut of new Atlanta coach Mike Woodson and his new team will start “Basketball New Year” as a part of the NBA’s Premiere Week on Wednesday, November 3 in Phoenix as the Hawks open the 2004-05 campaign against the Suns (9 p.m. ET). The rest of the early season West Coast trip has Atlanta facing the Seattle Sonics on November 5 and the new-look Los Angeles Lakers on November 7. This marks the fourth straight year the Hawks will begin the season on the road.
Following that three-game test, the Hawks will play seven of the next 11 games at home, featuring five teams whose players participated in the 2004 Athens Olympics, and the first appearance in Atlanta of the newest member of the Eastern Conference - All-Star center Shaquille O’Neal -- and his new Miami Heat team, who will play the Hawks on November 24.
Atlanta starts its first season in the newly-created NBA Southeast Division, along with Miami, Orlando, Washington and Charlotte, whose city is making a return to the league action after a two-year absence.
Among the notable home games include two stops by the defending NBA champion Detroit Pistons (March 14 and April 19), as the Hawks new coach meets his former boss, Larry Brown; two games with Atlanta native and the league’s number one pick in the 2004 Draft, Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic (November 26 and January 31); reigning NBA MVP Kevin Garnett and the Minnesota Timberwolves on April 9; U.S. Olympian Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs on November 13; and the second games of both the Cleveland (December 28) and Miami (January 28) series.
The annual Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday afternoon game is scheduled for Monday, January 17 against the New Jersey Nets, and five days later (January 22), NBA TV will spotlight the Hawks and Philips Arena when Atlanta hosts the Boston Celtics.
The 41-game regular season home schedule has the majority of those games being played on Saturday (11 games) and Tuesday (10 games) nights. The Hawks will play seven games each on Mondays and Fridays, with four on Wednesday and one each on Sunday and Thursday. All weeknight home games will be played at 7:30 p.m. eastern, with the exception of the December 30 and January 17 games, both of which will start at 2 p.m. eastern. All Saturday games will tip-off at 7 p.m. The Sunday, April 3 game against the Los Angeles Clippers will begin at 6 p.m. ET.
Atlanta’s largest number of home games - nine - is in December, with eight scheduled for January and seven each during the months of November, March and April. Three home games will be played in February, and the final home contest prior to the annual All-Star break is February 15 when the Denver Nuggets make their only appearance in Atlanta. The 2005 All-Star Weekend is set for February 18-20 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado.
The Hawks’ 2004 preseason schedule will be announced later this week.

2004-2005 ATLANTA HAWKS SCHEDULE

= Home Game

= Road Game

DAY

DATE

OPPONENT

TIME (ET)

Wed

Nov. 3

@Phoenix