Spurs schedule 2013: Can the Heat, Thunder and Rockets push San Antonio?

Can San Antonio compete with the NBA’s elite in 2013-14? Games against the Heat, Rockets, Thunder, Pacers and Grizzlies will tell the tale.

Nov. 22 at Memphis -- The Spurs’ stiffest Western Conference opponent from last postseason will play them twice early on in 2013-14 with the second meeting being aired on ESPN. More than three weeks into the season, the Grizzlies will give San Antonio a better sense of what first-year head coach Dave Joerger’s squad will look like than their first encounter, which opens the two teams’ schedules.

Jan. 22 vs. Thunder -- When talking Western Conference favorites, the Thunder and the Spurs are the two safest choices. That’s because fans and analysts know what to expect from each team -- whereas the Clippers, Grizzlies, Rockets and Warriors all have significant changes from a year ago.

Jan. 26 at Miami -- A rematch of the NBA Finals goes down this Sunday afternoon on ABC, and there’s not a whole lot that has changed for either team since the playoffs. San Antonio’s roster is nearly identical, and the Heat of course won’t deviate from a plan after winning two titles in a row.

March 31 at Indiana -- Maybe it’s not made for TV entertainment, but a Spurs-Pacers meeting means a night in heaven for basketball purists. It might not be pretty, but it’ll be a game with unquestioned effort, smart players across the board and two winning cultures built in small media markets.

San Antonio plays the Nets on New Year’s Eve and then has outings against the Knicks, Clippers, Grizzlies and Mavericks.

Another tough stretch comes just before the rodeo road trip. From Jan. 22 to Jan. 29, the Spurs play Oklahoma City, Atlanta, Miami, Houston and Chicago.

And from March 26 through April 10, the Spurs face a difficult stretch run starting with two games against the Nuggets before matchups with New Orleans, Indiana, Golden State, Oklahoma City, Memphis and Dallas.

Could a nine-game road trip be San Antonio’s most successful part of its schedule? The annual road trip -- the longest in the NBA -- caused by the rodeo booting the Spurs from the AT&T Center has actually been a marker of success in the last few years. In 2011-12, San Antonio went 8-1 and last season it only lost two of the nine games.

The Spurs have tough games against Brooklyn and the Los Angeles Clippers on the 2014 rodeo tour, which spans Feb. 3 through Feb. 21, but they fill out the schedule against the Pelicans, Wizards, Bobcats, Pistons, Celtics, Blazers and Suns.

Back-to-backs: 19

Season opener: Oct. 30 at home vs. Grizzlies

Longest road trip: Nine games (Feb. 3-21)

Longest homestand: Four games (Dec. 29-Jan. 4, Jan. 15-22)