The NBA has begun to reveal its schedule for the 2026/27 season, announcing a series of matchups on Tuesday that include the opening day slate, the nationally televised games during opening week, and the Christmas Day schedule.
The ’26/27 regular season will get underway on Tuesday, October 20. Rather than the usual doubleheader, the NBA will be featuring a triple-header on that day, as “opening night” becomes “opening day” (Twitter link). The Oct. 20 schedule is as follows:
Tuesday, October 20:
Boston Celtics at Detroit Pistons (3:00 pm Eastern time)
Philadelphia 76ers at New York Knicks (7:00 pm ET)
Oklahoma City Thunder at San Antonio Spurs (9:30 pm ET)
The afternoon game is a new addition to the NBA’s schedule, which typically tips off with that 7 pm ET contest. In this case, the two evening games still look like the day’s marquee matchups, with the defending champion Knicks hosting a new-look Sixers squad that features LeBron James and Jaylen Brown, while the Thunder and Spurs face off in a rematch of last season’s Western Conference finals.
All three opening day games will air on NBC.
The league also revealed the following nationally televised matchups on the second, third, and fourth days of the season (Twitter links):
Wednesday, October 21:
Minnesota Timberwolves at Miami Heat (7:30 pm ET)
Golden State Warriors at Los Angeles Lakers (10:00 pm ET)
Thursday, October 22:
Cleveland Cavaliers at Philadelphia 76ers (7 pm ET)
Denver Nuggets at Oklahoma City Thunder (9:30 pm ET)
Friday, October 23:
New York Knicks at Boston Celtics (7 pm ET)
Houston Rockets at San Antonio Spurs (9:30 pm ET)
All four of the games on Wednesday and Thursday will be ESPN broadcasts, with Wednesday’s slate featuring several notable players making their regular season debuts with new teams, including LaMelo Ball for the Timberwolves, Giannis Antetokounmpo for the Heat, and Walker Kessler for the Lakers. The Thursday games will be the Sixers’ and Thunder’s first home games of the season.
Friday’s contests – a pair of divisional rivalries – will air on Amazon Prime Video.
Finally, the NBA unveiled its Christmas Day schedule, announcing that December 25 will feature five NBA games for a 19th consecutive year, with ABC and ESPN televising each of those matchups (Twitter link). The Christmas Day schedule is as follows:
Friday, December 25:
San Antonio Spurs at New York Knicks (12 pm ET)
Miami Heat at Boston Celtics (2:30 pm ET)
Philadelphia 76ers at Los Angeles Lakers (5 pm ET)
Oklahoma City Thunder at Minnesota Timberwolves (8 pm ET)
Denver Nuggets at Golden State Warriors (10:30 pm ET)
The day begins with a rematch of the 2026 NBA Finals between Victor Wembanyama‘s Spurs and Jalen Brunson‘s Knicks and will be followed immediately by Antetokounmpo and the Heat squaring off against Jayson Tatum and the Celtics.
In the third game, James will be returning to Los Angeles for the Sixers’ only road game against the Lakers in 2026/27.
The night will wrap up with a divisional showdown featuring Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder against Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves, followed by Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets visiting Stephen Curry and the Warriors.
Even though Golden State is coming off a 37-win season and will likely still be missing star wing Jimmy Butler, the NBA opted not to leave Curry, Draymond Green, and the Warriors off the Dec. 25 schedule. It will be the 14th consecutive season in which the Warriors have played on Christmas Day, per an announcement from the club (Twitter link).
The NBA will announce the NBA Cup schedule on Wednesday, with the full regular season schedule to be revealed on Thursday.