LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers will visit New Orleans on Nov. 1 when the Hornets open their 2008-09 home schedule.

Photo by Alex Brandon / The Associated Press

New Orleans guard Chris Paul (3) celebrates with teammates during a Hornets win last season.

The NBA released the schedule Wednesday, and New Orleans opens with road games at Golden State (Oct. 29) and Phoenix (Oct. 30).

The Hornets are scheduled to make 13 appearances on national television, including a Thanksgiving Day game at Denver and a Christmas Day contest at Orlando.

“The schedule coming out creates a whole new excitement and anticipation for the upcoming season,” said Head Coach Byron Scott. “We look forward to carrying the momentum that began last season into the beginning of this season. The high hopes for this season will bring a wave of excitement and passion that even exceeds last year’s run.”

The Hornets will play 18 of their 41 home games on Friday (7), Saturday (6) or Sunday (5) night. Their most frequent game night will be Wednesday (15).

All home games will tip off at 7:00 p.m. with the following exceptions: Wednesday, Dec. 17 vs. San Antonio; Monday, Jan. 19 vs. Indiana; Sunday, Jan. 30 vs. Golden State, Sunday, Feb. 8 vs. Minnesota, Friday, Feb. 27 vs. Milwaukee, Sunday, Mar. 22 vs. Golden State, Sunday, Apr. 5 vs. Utah and Sunday, Apr. 12 vs. Dallas. The Spurs and first Warriors game will tip off at 8:30 p.m., while the Timberwolves, Bucks, Warriors and Jazz games will tip off at 6:00 p.m. The Pacers will tip off at 2:30 p.m. in honor of Martin Luther King Day and the Mavericks game will tip off at 12:00 p.m.

Among the top home games are two meetings against the defending Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers (Nov. 12 and Dec. 23), a matchup with the NBA champion Boston Celtics (Feb. 11) and two dates against San Antonio (Dec. 17 and March 29). The Spurs beat the Hornets in seven games in the Western Conference semifinals last season.

The Hornets close the 2008-09 season with back-to-back road games. New Orleans visits Houston on April 13 and San Antonio on April 15 in the regular-season finale.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)