The Milwaukee Bucks open the home portion of their 44th NBA season on Tuesday, December 27 at 7:30 p.m. against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the team announced today in conjunction with the release of the 2011-12 NBA regular season schedule. The Bucks start the season on the road at Charlotte on Monday, December 26, part of a road-heavy start to the season that features 12 of the first 18 games away from the Bradley Center.
Features of the Bucks 2011-12 regular season schedule include:
• Two visits from the Eastern Conference Champion Miami Heat (Feb. 1, Feb. 13)
• A Saturday night home match-up against Central Division Champion Chicago Bulls (Feb. 4), as well as a second visit from the Bulls on Mar. 7.
• The lone visit of the season from the Los Angeles Lakers (Jan. 28), which tips off a three-game home stand including matchups with Detroit (Jan. 30) and Miami (Feb. 1).
• One set of back-to-back-to-back games that sees the Bucks sandwich a road trip to Charlotte (Mar. 23) between home contests against Boston (Mar. 22) and Indiana (Mar. 24).
• A season-long five game home stand against Cleveland (Apr. 4), Charlotte (Apr. 6), Portland (Apr. 7), Oklahoma City (Apr. 9) and New York (Apr. 11).
• Five national TV games, an April 13 matchup at Detroit slated for ESPN. The remaining four national games (Jan. 7 at the L.A. Clippers, Mar.3 at Orlando, Mar. 22 vs. Boston and Apr. 2 at Washington) will air on NBATV.
The 2011-12 schedule features just two road trips of three games or more. Milwaukee rings in the New Year with a five-game trip that begins in Denver on January 2 and continues to Utah (Jan. 3), Sacramento (Jan. 5), the Los Angeles Clippers (Jan. 7) and Phoenix (Jan. 8). The three-game trek features a rare Leap Day matchup at Boston (Feb. 29), along with stops in Atlanta (Mar. 2) and Orlando (Mar. 3).
Bucks full season ticket plans for the 2011-12 season include specially reduced pricing in lower-level locations. Purchases of full- or half-season plans offer a number of benefits, including up to a $400 value concession card for free food and beverage, interest-free payment plans, exchange provisions and significant savings from individual game pricing. The Bucks have added three new offerings to coincide with today’s schedule announcement:
• Economy Buster - Purchase two or more season tickets in prime, lower level sidecourt seats and receive 2 upper level sidecourt seats for free. This package also includes one complimentary game and dinner in Club Cambria.
• $30 for 30 Days - Purchase 17 games in the lower level and gain access to the Frontier Club. This offer expires on January 1.
• Name Your Price - Visit bucks.com and bid on a limited quantity of season seats in sections 439, 440 or 441 by naming your price. The Bucks will review your bid immediately and let you know if it has been accepted.
The release of the 2011-12 schedule also provides fans the option to buy a Bucks Click ‘N Pick ticket package and select games of their choice! As part of this special offer, fans who purchase tickets to eight or more games will receive tickets to an additional two games free, while fans selecting tickets to five games will receive tickets to one additional game for free. Click ‘N Pick purchasers receive a discount from individual game pricing, best available seating in their selected price category, playoff privileges and ticket exchange options. Existing Bucks Plan Holders can renew Click ‘N Pick packages today by calling 414-227-0500.
Additionally, tickets are still available for the 35th Annual MACC Fund Game on Wednesday, December 21 at 7 p.m. when the Bucks host the Timberwolves in their lone preseason matchup at the Bradley Center. This annual event is the cornerstone of the Bucks 34-year commitment to Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer.
Since the inaugural event in 1977, the MACC Fund Game has raised more than $1.2 million for children’s cancer research at the Midwest Children’s Cancer Center in Milwaukee.
Complete ticket information is available at Bucks.com (Chat Live with a Bucks Ticket Representative) or by calling (414) 227-0500. A complete 3-D seating chart that features a display of all season ticket locations is also available at www.Bucks.com.
SCHEDULING NOTES: The Bucks will play each team in the Eastern Conference either three or four times, with Boston, Charlotte, New Jersey and Toronto being the only Eastern teams to make just one Bradley Center appearance … Milwaukee will play three Western Conference teams twice (Denver, Phoenix and Portland), with just a single meeting against the other 12 teams from the West (Dallas, Golden State, Houston, the L.A. Clippers, Sacramento and Utah will not travel to Milwaukee this season) … The Bucks have 20 back-to-back sets (10 road/home, 5 road/road, 4 home/road and 1 home/home) and one back-to-back-to-back set, down just slightly from 23 back-to-backs last season … The Bucks will open their season on the road for the 27th consecutive season (14-12 during that span) … SCHEDULE BY MONTH (HOME/ROAD): December (2/1), January (6/11), February (8/7), March (8/9) and April (9/5) … SCHEDULE BY DAY OF THE WEEK (HOME/ROAD): Monday (7/6), Tuesday (6/2), Wednesday (7/5), Thursday (2/3), Friday (3/11), Saturday (8/2) and Sunday (0/4).