2026-27 · 30 teams ranked by schedule difficulty

NBA Schedule Rankings

New Orleans Pelicans have the toughest schedule: a 86.7 score, 55,528 miles, and 16 back-to-backs.

Updated Sun, Sep 6, 10:59 AM EDT

Season

#	Team	Difficulty	Miles	B2B	3in4	Zone	Rest disadv.	Longest trip
1	New OrleansPelicansNOP	86.7	55,528	16	16	28	13	7 gm · 4,092 mi
2	DallasMavericksDAL	77.6	44,773	16	15	31	14	5 gm · 3,352 mi
3	Golden StateWarriorsGSW	64.4	45,656	15	15	29	12	6 gm · 4,253 mi
4	BostonCelticsBOS	63.1	41,112	16	14	23	14	6 gm · 4,112 mi
5	DenverNuggetsDEN	62.1	48,590	14	13	40	12	6 gm · 5,241 mi
6	BrooklynNetsBKN	59.5	38,684	16	15	17	14	5 gm · 3,598 mi
7	ClevelandCavaliersCLE	57.0	39,851	16	14	24	12	6 gm · 3,466 mi
8	SacramentoKingsSAC	56.8	49,113	14	14	32	11	5 gm · 4,213 mi
9	Los AngelesLakersLAL	56.1	43,715	15	15	25	11	7 gm · 6,325 mi
10	ChicagoBullsCHI	53.5	35,393	15	14	36	11	4 gm · 3,019 mi
11	HoustonRocketsHOU	49.7	45,335	14	14	28	11	5 gm · 3,619 mi
12	MilwaukeeBucksMIL	49.6	41,347	14	13	37	11	5 gm · 3,493 mi
13	TorontoRaptorsTOR	48.4	35,316	15	15	19	13	6 gm · 5,232 mi
14	PortlandTrail BlazersPOR	46.1	45,142	15	14	23	9	6 gm · 3,819 mi
15	IndianaPacersIND	43.1	36,595	15	13	24	12	5 gm · 3,055 mi
16	PhoenixSunsPHX	42.3	44,280	13	13	33	11	6 gm · 5,881 mi
17	AtlantaHawksATL	39.2	37,096	14	14	22	12	6 gm · 2,728 mi
18	OrlandoMagicORL	38.2	43,326	14	12	23	12	5 gm · 2,336 mi
19	DetroitPistonsDET	37.4	35,983	15	13	28	9	4 gm · 3,989 mi
20	San AntonioSpursSAS	34.6	53,945	13	11	29	9	6 gm · 3,276 mi
21	MiamiHeatMIA	33.9	48,091	13	13	19	11	5 gm · 3,816 mi
22	UtahJazzUTA	33.6	48,701	13	11	37	8	5 gm · 4,290 mi
23	MinnesotaTimberwolvesMIN	30.9	46,986	13	13	30	7	5 gm · 3,695 mi
24	MemphisGrizzliesMEM	30.9	45,675	13	12	36	7	4 gm · 3,037 mi
25	LAClippersLAC	30.2	47,438	13	12	30	8	6 gm · 4,440 mi
26	CharlotteHornetsCHA	24.4	36,943	13	13	24	10	6 gm · 4,473 mi
27	WashingtonWizardsWAS	24.0	36,709	14	11	22	11	5 gm · 3,090 mi
28	Oklahoma CityThunderOKC	23.2	44,048	13	12	29	7	4 gm · 2,682 mi
29	Philadelphia76ersPHI	21.8	41,318	13	11	22	11	5 gm · 4,858 mi
30	New YorkKnicksNYK	18.0	35,134	13	12	20	11	7 gm · 4,619 mi

What the columns mean

#: Rank by Difficulty, 1 = toughest schedule. Ties break by miles.
Difficulty: Schedule Difficulty Index, 0–100: the mean of the five columns to its right, each min-max normalized across this league's teams. Higher is harder.
Miles: Great-circle miles between consecutive game venues, summed over the season.
B2B: Games played on zero days rest — the second night of two in two days.
3in4: Distinct stretches of three games in four local calendar days. Overlapping windows count once.
Zone: How many games start in a different time zone than the team's previous game. A count of crossings, whatever their size.
Rest disadv.: Back-to-backs played against an opponent who had at least a day off.
Longest trip: The team's longest unbroken road trip — games, then miles covered.

The extremes

Longest road trip

The Los Angeles Lakers' longest haul: 7 games, 6,325 miles, Jan 28 – Feb 8.

Longest single hop

The season's longest single hop: Manchester to San Antonio, 4,851 miles.

Worst 7-day stretch

The San Antonio Spurs' worst week: 3 games and 9,603 miles in seven days, Jan 14 – Jan 20.

Most back-to-backs

The New Orleans Pelicans lead the league with 16 back-to-backs.

Most rest-disadvantage games

The Dallas Mavericks face the most rest-disadvantage games — 14 nights on zero rest against a rested opponent.

Per-team travel maps and month-by-month splits live behind each team name on the Travel board.

How it's counted

The Schedule Difficulty Index is the mean of five metrics — travel miles, back-to-backs, 3-in-4 stretches, time-zone crossings, and rest-disadvantage games — each min-max normalized to 0–100 across the league's teams, then averaged with equal weight.

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