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Thursday, July 26, 2012

Toronto Raptors kick off new season against Indiana Pacers on Halloween - Toronto Star

DEMAR DEROZAN

RICK MADONIK/TORONTO STAR Guard DeMar DeRozan and the rest of the Toronto Raptors open the regular season at the Air Canada Centre against the Indiana Pacers on Oct. 31.

Toronto basketball fans might have to cancel their trick-or-treating this year.

The Toronto Raptors host the Indiana Pacers on Oct. 31 to open the 2012-13 NBA regular season, tipping off the club’s 18th campaign in the league.

Toronto’s first road trip will be a new one â€" the club visits the Brooklyn Nets, who relocated from New Jersey this off-season.

The Raptors might be road-weary by Christmas, with 19 of their first 31 games away from Air Canada Centre.

The team’s longest road trip is five games from Dec. 3-10, while Toronto has a six-game home stand Jan. 2-13.

Linsanity and the Houston Rockets come to Toronto on Dec. 16, the NBA-finalist Oklahoma City Thunder are in town Jan. 6, while Canadian Steve Nash and the Los Angeles Lakers pass through on Jan. 20.

LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and the rest of the Miami Heat â€" defending NBA champions â€" have two matinee dates in Toronto: Feb. 3 and March 17.

The Raptors have 17 back-to-back games this season, three fewer than last season. Seven of those consecutive-night tilts will be back-to-back road games.

The Raptors’ go-to home slot will continue to be Sunday, with 12 games scheduled that day at the ACC.

Around the league, fans will get a rematch of June’s NBA finals when the Thunder visit Miami on Christmas Day. The teams clash again in Oklahoma City on Valentine’s Day.

The Raptors will hold their pre-season training camp in Halifax at the Canada Games Centre from Oct. 1-6 ahead of the NBA season, the club announced Thursday.

The team also plans an intra-squad game at Halifax Metro Centre on Oct. 6.

Toronto’s first-ever game was a pre-season 120-107 victory over Philadelphia played in Halifax on Oct. 14, 1995. But the Raptors haven’t returned to play in Halifax since 1997.

Following the camp, Toronto will move to Montreal for an exhibition game against New York on Oct. 19.

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