Hawks to open pre-season vs Cavs

[Hawksman]

ATLANTA, GA (August 7, 2003) ----- The Atlanta Hawks released their preseason schedule this afternoon and the highlight of the eight games is a preseason opener against the number one overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, Cleveland’s LeBron James and the rest of the Cavaliers, Friday, October 8 in Asheville, North Carolina.

The game will be played at the Asheville Civic Center, home of the National Basketball Development League’s Asheville Altitude and tipoff is set for 7:00 ET.

Atlanta’s first of two home games at Philips Arena will take place on Thursdaym October 16 when the Miami Heat come to town for a 7:30 p.m. contest. The Hawks wrap up exhibition play on Friday, October 24 against the Washington Wizards in another 7:30 home start.

Following the preseason opener in Asheville, the Hawks will travel to two neutral site locations to face the Heat and the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday, October 10 and Monday, October 13 respectively. The game against Miami (7:30 ET) will be played at the TECO Arena in Estero, Florida, while the time and location of the Timberwolves’ contest has yet to be determined.

Prior to the season finale against the Wizards, Atlanta has three road games in five days, beginning with the Saturday, October 18 match against the Memphis Grizzlies (8:00 ET). The team travels to Charlotte Coliseum on Monday, October 20 to face Washington (7:00 ET) and finishes the road schedule on Wednesday, October 22 at Orlando’s T.D. Waterhouse Centre against the Magic.

News regarding the team’s training camp plans will be announced at a later date.

Tickets for all of the Hawks home preseason games will be available in early October at all Ticketmaster locations and the Philips Arena Box Office. Tickets can also be obtained at www.hawks.com, or by phone at (404) 249-6400 or 1-(800) 4NBA-TIX.

ATLANTA HAWKS 2003 PRESEASON SCHEDULE

(Home games in ORANGE, All times Eastern)

DAY DATE OPPONENT (SITE) TIME (ET)

Wednesday Oct. 8 (**) CLEVELAND

(Asheville Civic Center, Asheville, NC) 7:00 p.m.

Friday Oct. 10 @Miami

(TECO Arena, Estero, FL) 7:30 p.m.

Monday Oct. 13 @Minnesota

(TBD) TBD

Thursday Oct. 16 MIAMI

(Philips Arena, Atlanta, GA) 7:30 p.m.

Saturday Oct. 18 @Memphis

(The Pyramid, Memphis, TN) 8:00 p.m.

Monday Oct. 20 @Washington

(Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte, NC) 7:00 p.m.

Wednesday Oct. 22 @Orlando

(T.D. Waterhouse Centre, Orlando, FL) 7:00 p.m.

Friday Oct. 24 WASHINGTON

(Philips Arena, Atlanta, GA) 7:30 p.m.

[DJ_Money]

Hey, at least we know that we'll be the lead story on Sportscenter once this year.

[mrhonline]

Asheville Civic Center. (I actually went to UNC-A for a couple of semesters). I wonder if I will be able to get tickets.