The opening evening of the 2025-26 NBA season will include Houston’s Rockets to the title champion Oklahoma City Thunder and the Golden State Warriors at Los Angeles Lakers.
The matches will be played on October 21 and will be televised on NBC.
ESPN will pass its coverage with two doublesheaders from the opening week. On October 22, the Cleveland Cavaliers will visit the Knicks of New York (7 p.m. HE), and Cooper Flagg and the Dallas Mavericks will welcome the San Antonio Spurs (9:30 p.m. he). The following night, on October 23, the Thunder will visit the Pacers in a revenge match of the NBA final (7:30 p.m. he), while the Denver Nuggets will visit the Warriors (10 p.m. he).
In addition, there will be five games on ABC / ESPN at Christmas. They are:
• Cavaliers at Knicks (Midi and)
• Spurs at Thunder (2:30 p.m. he)
• Rockets at Lakers (5 p.m. HE)
• Mavericks at Warriors (8 p.m. HE)
• Minnesota Timberwolves in Nuggets (10:30 p.m.)
The Knicks will play their 58th Christmas match, extending their NBA record. The first Christmas match in the history of the League took place at Madison Square Garden in 1947.
Cavaliers and Thunder have been playing Christmas for the first time since 2018, and the game of on vacation will have been their first since 2019.
The Lakers star, LeBron James, if he plays, will make his 20th Christmas appear in his 23rd season of NBA Record. Only 12 NBA franchises have 20 Christmas games, and James may soon have as much as a player.
And it will be a big NBA celebration in Texas: the three state teams play Christmas for the first time.
The programming of the Martin Luther King Jr. day on January 19 includes four games:
• Milwaukee Bucks in Atlanta Hawks
• Thunder at Cavaliers
• Mavericks in Knicks
• Boston Celtics at Detroit Pistons
Memphis, who usually plays during the holidays, is not this season. Grizzlies will return from Europe, after facing Orlando on January 15 in Berlin and January 18 in London.
Some NBA Cup matches are expected to be released on Wednesday, and the full calendar – 80 of the 82 games for all teams – will be released on Thursday. The two remaining games for each club will be filled in December on the basis of how the teams are worn in the NBA Cup.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
