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The NBA released the 2011-12 schedule on Tuesday afternoon with a triple-header of action on opening night – November 1 – that includes the World Champion Dallas Mavericks hosting the Chicago Bulls and the Oklahoma City Thunder traveling to Los Angeles to face the Lakers.

One team NOT included in the opening night festivities are the Miami Heat.  They open the season on Wednesday, November 2 with a trip to Madison Square Garden to face the New York Knicks.

The Cleveland Cavaliers also open their 2011-12 season on the road, heading to Boston to face the Celtics.  Cleveland will take on the Toronto Raptors in the Home Opener at The Q on Friday, November 4.  Cleveland won’t spend long at home, however, taking their first trip to the West Coast starting November 6.  The Wine and Gold will play 3 games in 4 nights against the Los Angeles Clippers(11/6), Denver Nuggets(11/7) and Sacramento Kings(11/9) in the first meeting between the Cavaliers and J.J. Hickson.

What about the Miami Heat, you ask?  

The Cavaliers and Heat will play four times next season, with the Heat coming to Cleveland on Friday, November 18, a game that will be televised on ESPN.  The Heat will also be at The Q on February 17, 2012 while the Cavaliers will head to South Beach on March 7 and April 6.

The Novemeber 18th matchup is the only time the Cavaliers are scheduled to be on ESPN/ABC or TNT all season.  Cleveland will play 13 games in November, with 6 at home and 7 on the road.

Check out the complete 2011-12 NBA Schedule;  Cavaliers site Fear The Sword talk about the Cavs schedule as well!

The NBA released the 2011-12 schedule on Tuesday afternoon with a triple-header of action on opening night – November 1 – that includes the World Champion Dallas Mavericks hosting the Chicago Bulls and the Oklahoma City Thunder traveling to Los Angeles to face the Lakers.

One team NOT included in the opening night festivities are the Miami Heat.  They open the season on Wednesday, November 2 with a trip to Madison Square Garden to face the New York Knicks.

The Cleveland Cavaliers also open their 2011-12 season on the road, heading to Boston to face the Celtics.  Cleveland will take on the Toronto Raptors in the Home Opener at The Q on Friday, November 4.  Cleveland won’t spend long at home, however, taking their first trip to the West Coast starting November 6.  The Wine and Gold will play 3 games in 4 nights against the Los Angeles Clippers(11/6), Denver Nuggets(11/7) and Sacramento Kings(11/9) in the first meeting between the Cavaliers and J.J. Hickson.

What about the Miami Heat, you ask?  

The Cavaliers and Heat will play four times next season, with the Heat coming to Cleveland on Friday, November 18, a game that will be televised on ESPN.  The Heat will also be at The Q on February 17, 2012 while the Cavaliers will head to South Beach on March 7 and April 6.

The Novemeber 18th matchup is the only time the Cavaliers are scheduled to be on ESPN/ABC or TNT all season.  Cleveland will play 13 games in November, with 6 at home and 7 on the road.

Check out the complete 2011-12 NBA Schedule;  Cavaliers site Fear The Sword talk about the Cavs schedule as well!

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CLEVELAND, Ohio — J.J. Hickson had just one word — although it was a long one — when he heard the news that Shaquille O’Neal had announced his retirement on Wednesday afternoon.

“Nooooooooo!!!!” Hickson tweeted in tribute to his former teammate.

Daniel Gibson’s Twitter response was the same word but three times that long and concluded with, “Say it ain’t so Big Homie! Say it ain’t so!”

O’Neal, 39, announced his retirement on the new social media tool Tout, a real-time video messaging service: “We did it. Nineteen years baby. I want to thank you very much, that’s why I’m telling you first, I’m about to retire. Love you, talk to you soon.”

A four-time champion, 15-time All-Star and three-time NBA Finals MVP who was the 2000 NBA MVP and the 1993 Rookie of the Year, O’Neal is fifth on the all-time scoring list with 28,596 points. According to ESPN, he is the only player to average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds per game for 13 seasons.

“Shaq is one of the NBA’s all-time great players and ambassadors,” said Cavs General Manager Chris Grant. “He will truly be missed for not only all he accomplished on the court but also the impact he made in every community in which he played.”

O’Neal, who spent this past season with the Boston Celtics, spent just one season with the Cavaliers — 2009-10 — which ended not as he or his teammates had hoped. The Cavs finished the regular season with a league-best 61-21 record, but lost to the Celtics in six games in the Eastern Conference semifinals, leaving O’Neal far short of the fifth championship ring he sought.

Limited to 53 regular-season games because of injuries, O’Neal averaged just 12 points and 6.7 rebounds in the regular season and 11.5 points and 5.5 rebounds in 11 playoff games.

Obtained by the Cavs on June 25, 2009 from Phoenix in exchange for Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic, a second-round pick in 2010 and cash, O’Neal did a masterful job of toning down his big personality in order to fit into a team he clearly saw as LeBron James’.

From Miami, James tweeted, “What a career for Shaq Diesel!! The most dominating force to ever play the game. Great person to be around as well. Comedy all the time!! He will be missed!!”

O’Neal has called a press conference for Friday at his home in Isleworth, Fla., outside Orlando, but he told ESPNBoston.com’s Jackie MacMullan that a persistent and painful Achilles injury led to his decision. He told MacMullan he had more than five cortisone shots, over the objections of team physician Brian McKeon, in order to try and play against the Miami Heat in the second round of the playoffs last month.

O’Neal said he rejected the notion of surgery, which could require up to nine months to recover, virtually wiping out the second year of his contract with the Celtics.

“I didn’t want to let people down two years in a row,” he told MacMullan. “I didn’t want to hold Boston hostage again.”

As great as his basketball career was, O’Neal also built a second career in entertainment, including music, movies, television shows and commercials, and he also was active in community service and charity work, much of which went unpublicized.

“I tried to make people happy,” he told MacMullan, “and I tried to have fun. I think I did both.”

On Twitter: @pdcavsinsider

Here’s the link to Shaq’s video announcement.

Cinesport video: Shaquille O’Neal retires

For more Cinesport video on cleveland.com, go here.