NBA Schedule Rankings

Updated Wed, Oct 21, 9:37 PM EDT

#	Team	Difficulty	Miles	B2B	3in4	Zone	Rest disadv.	Longest trip
1	New OrleansPelicansNOP	86.7	55,529	16	16	28	13	7 gm · 4,092 mi
2	DallasMavericksDAL	78.5	44,779	16	15	32	14	5 gm · 3,353 mi
3	Golden StateWarriorsGSW	64.4	45,658	15	15	29	12	6 gm · 4,254 mi
4	BostonCelticsBOS	63.3	41,282	16	14	23	14	6 gm · 4,112 mi
5	DenverNuggetsDEN	61.5	47,910	14	13	40	12	6 gm · 5,241 mi
6	BrooklynNetsBKN	58.4	37,595	16	15	17	14	5 gm · 3,598 mi
7	ClevelandCavaliersCLE	56.5	39,350	16	14	24	12	6 gm · 3,467 mi
8	Los AngelesLakersLAL	56.1	43,717	15	15	25	11	7 gm · 6,325 mi
9	SacramentoKingsSAC	55.2	48,270	14	14	31	11	5 gm · 4,213 mi
10	ChicagoBullsCHI	53.6	35,394	15	14	36	11	4 gm · 3,019 mi
11	MilwaukeeBucksMIL	50.6	41,492	14	13	38	11	5 gm · 3,493 mi
12	HoustonRocketsHOU	49.7	45,337	14	14	28	11	5 gm · 3,619 mi
13	TorontoRaptorsTOR	48.2	35,111	15	15	19	13	6 gm · 5,232 mi
14	PortlandTrail BlazersPOR	45.6	44,606	15	14	23	9	6 gm · 3,819 mi
15	PhoenixSunsPHX	45.4	46,585	13	13	34	11	6 gm · 5,881 mi
16	IndianaPacersIND	45.0	37,559	15	13	25	12	5 gm · 3,056 mi
17	AtlantaHawksATL	38.4	37,157	14	14	21	12	6 gm · 2,729 mi
18	OrlandoMagicORL	38.2	43,327	14	12	23	12	5 gm · 2,336 mi
19	DetroitPistonsDET	37.5	35,984	15	13	28	9	4 gm · 3,990 mi
20	MiamiHeatMIA	35.3	49,573	13	13	19	11	5 gm · 3,816 mi
21	San AntonioSpursSAS	34.7	54,086	13	11	29	9	6 gm · 3,276 mi
22	UtahJazzUTA	33.7	48,813	13	11	37	8	5 gm · 4,290 mi
23	MinnesotaTimberwolvesMIN	31.3	47,309	13	13	30	7	5 gm · 3,696 mi
24	MemphisGrizzliesMEM	30.9	45,676	13	12	36	7	4 gm · 3,037 mi
25	LAClippersLAC	30.2	47,451	13	12	30	8	6 gm · 4,441 mi
26	Oklahoma CityThunderOKC	23.4	44,283	13	12	29	7	4 gm · 2,682 mi
27	CharlotteHornetsCHA	23.2	36,520	13	13	23	10	6 gm · 4,473 mi
28	WashingtonWizardsWAS	22.2	35,744	14	11	21	11	5 gm · 3,090 mi
29	Philadelphia76ersPHI	21.9	41,319	13	11	22	11	5 gm · 4,859 mi
30	New YorkKnicksNYK	18.1	35,134	13	12	20	11	7 gm · 4,619 mi

What the columns mean

#: Rank on the column the board is sorted by, 1 = most. The rank belongs to the team, not the row, so flipping to low-to-high counts down to #1 at the foot. Ties share a rank.
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.

How it's counted

Most strength-of-schedule rankings measure opponents. This one measures the schedule itself: miles, back-to-backs, time zones, and rest.

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.

Travel data & methodology →

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