Update
Ira Winderman for the Sun-Sentinel:
The first look at the new-look Miami Heat will come at a distance. Despite the offseason additions of LeBron James and Chris Bosh, as well as the re-signing of Dwyane Wade, the Heat, according to a preliminary schedule obtained by the Sun Sentinel, will not play its 2010-11 home opener until Friday Oct. 29 at AmericanAirlines Arena -- three days after it opens its season Tuesday Oct. 26 at TD Garden against the Boston Celtics.
The first South Florida exposure during the regular season for the roster that Pat Riley overhauled last month will come on Oct. 29, against the Orlando Magic.
Instead, after the Heat opens the regular season where it ended the 2010 NBA playoffs, in Boston against the Celtics, the preliminary schedule obtained by the Sun Sentinel shows the Heat next playing a road game on Wednesday Oct. 27 against the Philadelphia 76ers. Only then, after taking Thursday Oct. 28 off, will the Heat host its 2010-11 regular-season home opener against former Heat coach Stan Van Gundy, All-Star center Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic.
Earlier
Mike Wallace for the Herald:
Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Chris Bosh and the new-look Miami Heat are poised to make their season debut against the NBA's reigning Big 3. The Heat will open the 2010-11 season against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday, October 26 at TD Garden, multiple league sources said Monday night.
The league will release a portion of the schedule Tuesday night during an hour-long special on NBA TV. During the show, matchups will be announced for TNT's opening night double-header, as well as a slate of Christmas Day games on ABC and ESPN, and games played on the Jan. 17 Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
The Heat-Celtics game opens a TNT double-header that will showcase the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers in the second game. ESPN was working to secure the rights to Miami's home opener, which will be either the following night (Wednesday) or that Friday.
The league's television partners were still negotiating games Monday, and it's possible some opening week matchups could be shifted before the 7 p.m. start of the NBA TV show Tuesday.
The Heat is expected to play the maximum of 34 nationally televised games, with interest in the team spiking after Miami re-signed Wade and added James and Bosh in free agency.
