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2025-26 NBA Schedule Primer: How to watch on ABC/ESPN, NBC/Peacock, Amazon Prime

Here's how to watch NBA games on ABC/ESPN, NBC/Peacock, and Amazon Prime.

NBA.com Staff

Throughout the 2025-26 season, national NBA games will be available to watch across ABC, ESPN, NBC/Peacock and Prime Video.

With the 2025-26 NBA Schedule fully released, there are new ways for fans to watch as a new season gets underway. Here’s what you need to know:

Overall notes

  • There will be 247 national games across ABC/ESPN/NBC/Peacock/Amazon, up from 172 last season.
  • Season-long national games:
    • Monday: Peacock
    • Tuesday: NBC/Peacock
    • Wednesday: ESPN
    • Friday: Prime Video
  • Additional weekly national game days/nights starting mid-season:
    • Thursday: Prime Video
    • Saturday: ABC/ESPN/Prime Video
    • Sunday: ABC/ESPN/NBC
  • Every national game will be available on broadly distributed streaming services – the ESPN App for all ABC/ESPN games, Peacock for all NBCUniversal games and Prime Video for all Amazon games.

  • This season, the NBA will launch a new digital feature to make watching live games easier than ever. Through the NBA App, NBA.com, team platforms and select league partner sites, fans will be seamlessly guided to live game streams. More details will be shared ahead of the season.
  • Every team has at least two national TV appearances.
  • The defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder will play on Christmas Day for the first time since 2018. The Cleveland Cavaliers and Houston Rockets will play on Christmas Day for the first time since 2017 and 2019, respectively.

  • There are 14.4 back-to-backs on average per team compared to 14.9 last season. No team will play more than 16 back-to-backs, consistent with last season.
  • Teams will never play the day before these games:
    • All opening-week national TV games
    • All Emirates NBA Cup games
    • All Christmas Day games
    • The four-game Peacock/NBC schedule on Martin Luther King Jr. Day
    • The 10-game ABC Saturday schedule and eight-game ABC Sunday schedule
    • The 11-game NBC Sunday schedule

Bucks’ Myles Turner will return to Gainbridge Fieldhouse in November.

Notable returns to former team’s arena

• Oct. 22: Khris Middleton returns to Milwaukee with the Washington Wizards.
• Oct. 29: Zach LaVine returns to Chicago with the Sacramento Kings.
• Nov. 3: Norman Powell returns to Los Angeles to face the LA Clippers with the Miami Heat.
• Nov. 3: Myles Turner returns to Indiana with the Milwaukee Bucks.
• Nov. 6: Bradley Beal returns to Phoenix with the LA Clippers.
• Nov. 24 (Peacock): Kevin Durant returns to Phoenix with the Houston Rockets.
• Nov. 28 (Prime): Anthony Davis returns to L.A. with the Dallas Mavericks.
• Dec. 5: Jalen Green returns to Houston with the Phoenix Suns.
• Dec. 28: Anfernee Simons returns to Portland with the Boston Celtics.
• Jan. 19: Andrew Wiggins returns to Golden State with the Miami Heat.
• Jan. 26 (Peacock): Jrue Holiday returns to Boston with the Portland Trail Blazers.
• Jan. 28: Kristaps Porziņģis returns to Boston with the Atlanta Hawks.
• Jan. 29: Michael Porter Jr. returns to Denver with the Brooklyn Nets.
• March 8: CJ McCollum returns to New Orleans with the Washington Wizards.
• March 11: Brandon Ingram returns to New Orleans with the Toronto Raptors.
• March 29: Brook Lopez returns to Milwaukee with the LA Clippers.

Notable matchups

The Thunder and Cavaliers will face off twice in the 2025-2026 season, once ahead of the All-Star break on NBC/Peacock and once after on ABC.

• Last season’s No. 1 playoff seeds will go head-to-head twice this season as the Oklahoma City Thunder and Cleveland Cavaliers are scheduled to meet on Jan. 19 (@CLE on NBC/Peacock) and Feb. 22 (@OKC on ABC).

• LeBron James and Stephen Curry will log their 57th career matchup when the Golden State Warriors visit the Los Angeles Lakers on opening night, Oct. 21 (NBC/Peacock). The two teams will match up again on Feb. 7 (@LAL on ABC), Feb. 28 (@GSW on ABC) and April 9 (@GSW on Prime).

• Luka Dončić and the Los Angeles Lakers will play Anthony Davis and the Dallas Maverick four times this season: Nov. 28 (@LAL on Prime), Jan. 24 (@DAL on ABC), Feb. 12 (@LAL on Prime) and April 5 (@DAL on NBC/Peacock).

• Anthony Edwards will have three opportunities to take down his basketball idol Kevin Durant as the Minnesota Timberwolves play the Houston Rockets on Jan. 16 (@HOU on ESPN), March 25 (@MIN on ESPN) and April 10 (@HOU).

• In a rematch of the 2025 NBA Finals, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers will face off on Oct. 23 (@IND on ESPN) and Jan. 23 (@OKC on Prime).

• The Los Angeles Lakers and LA Clippers will match up in their crosstown rivalry four times: Nov. 25 (@LAL on NBC/Peacock), Dec. 20 (@LAC), Jan. 22 (@LAC on Prime) and Feb. 20 (@ LAL on ESPN).

LeBron James and the Lakers will travel to New York in February to take on the Knicks.

• LeBron James will play four games against his former teams. James and the Los Angeles Lakers will face the Cleveland Cavaliers on Jan. 28 (@CLE on ESPN) and March 31 (@LAL), and they will meet the Miami Heat on Nov. 2 (@LAL) and March 19 (@MIA).

• LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers will make their one regular-season appearance at Madison Square Garden when they visit the New York Knicks on Feb. 1 (NBC/Peacock).

• Dallas Mavericks rookie No. 1 overall pick and Maine native Cooper Flagg will visit the Boston Celtics, his favorite childhood team, on March 6 (ESPN).

• Chet Holmgren and the Oklahoma City Thunder will take on Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs four times this season: Dec. 23 (@SAS), Dec. 25 (@OKC on ABC), Jan. 13 (@OKC) and Feb. 4 (@SAS on ESPN).

• Twin brothers Amen and Ausar Thompson will go head-to-head when Amen and the Houston Rockets take on Ausar and the Detroit Pistons on Oct. 24 (@HOU) and Jan. 23 (@DET on Prime).

• Trae Young and the retooled Atlanta Hawks will play the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 2 (Prime).

• Multiple-time MVP winners Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokić will match up twice as the Milwaukee Bucks and Denver Nuggets face off on Jan. 11 (@DEN) and Jan. 23 (@MIL).

• The new-look Houston Rockets will look to avenge last season’s first-round playoff loss when they meet the Golden State Warriors on Nov. 26 (@GSW on ESPN), March 5 (@HOU on Prime) and April 5 (@GSW on NBC/Peacock).

• On March 3, the top four picks in the 2025 NBA Draft will be in action in head-to-head matchups: No. 1 Cooper Flagg and the Dallas Mavericks take on No. 4 Kon Knueppel and the Charlotte Hornets, while No. 2 Dylan Harper and the San Antonio Spurs go up against No. 3 VJ Edgecombe and the Philadelphia 76ers.

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