The NBA's television partners (including ESPN) aren't interested in the 2015-16 New York Knicks.
Phil Jackson's club is scheduled to play just seven nationally televised games in the 2015-16 season.
Last season, they played 16 games on national television between ESPN, ABC and TNT.
The Knicks' total this season is 18 games below the maximum number of nationally televised games per team.
The Cavs and Warriors are playing the max number of games. The Knicks are playing fewer games than the Portland Trail Blazers (nine) and the same number as the Phoenix Suns and Indiana Pacers.
The Knicks are coming off a 17-win season, so it's not a huge surprise that they won't be on national television often. Several of their nationally televised games last season were canceled after Jan. 1 because the team wasn't competitive.
But the Los Angeles Lakers, who won just 21 games last season, play 19 games on national television in 2015-16. They are expected to struggle in a loaded Western Conference, but Kobe Bryant playing in what could be his final season is probably seen as a draw for the networks.
The networks didn't show much interest in the New York market as a whole this season. The Brooklyn Nets play on national television just once.
For comparison's sake, the Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers will be on national television a combined 43 times.
Key dates: The Knicks will open the season on the road against Greg Monroe and the Milwaukee Bucks on Oct. 28 and will play their first home game Oct. 29 against the Atlanta Hawks and ex-Knick Tim Hardaway Jr. The Knicks-Hawks game is on TNT.
They will not play on Christmas Day for the first time since 2008.
New center Robin Lopez will play his brother Brook Lopez and the Nets four times, with the first meeting on Dec. 4 at Madison Square Garden. In addition to Lopez versus Lopez, the Knicks-Nets matchups will be interesting because Phil Jackson has offered some candid criticism of new Nets Andrea Bargnani and Shane Larkin in ESPN's "The Phil Files" with Charley Rosen.
The Knicks and Nets also play at Brooklyn on Jan. 13 and Feb. 19 and at MSG on April 1.
LeBron James, Iman Shumpert and the Cleveland Cavaliers visit the Knicks on Nov. 13 and March 26. Bryant visits Madison Square Garden for what could be the final time on Nov. 8.
The Knicks' first ESPN game is Nov. 4 at Cleveland.
More rest? The NBA made an effort to reduce the difficult four games-in-five-nights sets and the number of back-to-backs on the schedule this season. The Knicks have 15 back-to-backs this season. The league average for previous seasons was 20. They will not play a stretch of four games in five nights. According to NBA Savant, the Knicks will travel 41,065 miles this season. That's the 21st-highest total in the league. Also, the Knicks will play opponents who are on the second game of a back-to-back a league-high 25 times, according to Basketball Talk. That's a positive for a team looking to bounce back from a 17-win season.
