The 2025-26 NBA Schedule Release presented by Ticketmaster concluded on Thursday, highlighted by NBA Rivals Week – with 11 national games with doubleheaders on NBC, ESPN, Prime (two) and a tripleheader on ABC – as well as Global Games in Mexico City (on Peacock), Berlin and London (both on Prime).
With Thursday’s release, 80 of the 82 games for each team have been revealed, with two games to be determined based on Group Play results in the Emirates NBA Cup.
- Complete 2025-26 NBA Schedule
- 2025 Emirates NBA Cup Schedule
- Broadcast Partner Schedules: NBC | Peacock | Prime Video | ESPN | ABC
- NBA League Pass Schedule
With 1,200 total games announced, here’s a look at when and where to catch the season’s marquee events, beginning with an opening night doubleheader in the return of the NBA on NBC.
> NBA Tip Off 2025: NBC/Peacock
The TODAY Show reveals 2025-26 NBA schedule for Opening Night, MLK Day and more as part of the NBA Schedule Release presented by Ticketmaster.
Opening Night on NBC (Tuesday, Oct. 21)
The 80th NBA season tips off on Oct. 21 on NBC in the same place last season ended – Oklahoma City – as reigning Kia MVP and NBA Finals MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder raise the 2024-25 championship banner and receive their championship rings before hosting Kevin Durant and the new-look Rockets.
The Opening Night doubleheader – featuring the NBA on NBC for the first time in more than two decades – concludes with the latest chapter in the LeBron James-Stephen Curry rivalry as the two icons meet for the 57th time in their careers. James will make history, becoming the first player to play a 23rd NBA season.
Game on. 🎮 NBA Tip-Off, October 21st on NBC and Peacock. pic.twitter.com/AALohb2D0a
— NBA on NBC and Peacock (@NBAonNBC) August 12, 2025
> Opening Week on ESPN (Wed., Oct. 22 & Thurs., Oct. 23)
Malika Andrews joins Good Morning America to reveal the 2025-26 NBA schedule for Opening Week on ESPN as part of the NBA Schedule Release presented by Ticketmaster.
Wednesday, Oct. 22
The NBA on ESPN campaign debuts with All-Star guards meeting at Madison Square Garden as Donovan Mitchell and the Cavaliers visit Jalen Brunson and the Knicks in a clash of teams that finished first and third, respectively, in the East last season.
Then, the top two picks in the 2025 NBA Draft, Dallas’ Cooper Flagg (No. 1) and San Antonio’s Dylan Harper (No. 2), make their professional debuts against each other in a game that also features the return of 2023 No. 1 pick, Victor Wembanyama. His All-Star second season was cut short due to a deep vein thrombosis in his shoulder.
Thursday, Oct. 23
Exactly four months and one day after the Thunder defeated the Pacers in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals to win the first NBA title of the OKC era, the teams will meet again on the third night of the new season.
That clash is followed by a pair of former champions and multi-time Kia MVPs – Curry and Denver’s Nikola Jokić – squaring off in the Bay as both players and teams eye another title run.
> Opening Week on Prime (Friday, Oct. 24)
The debut NBA game on Prime Video features two teams that have both finished top three in the East in each of the past two seasons when Jaylen Brown and the Celtics visit Brunson and the Knicks at The Garden.
The second game of the doubleheader is a 2025 First Round rematch between Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves and Luka Dončić, LeBron and the Lakers after Minnesota ended L.A.’s season in five games last spring.
Peacock Exclusives (Monday, Oct. 27)
In addition to games broadcast on NBC television, this season will also feature several games available exclusively on Peacock – NBC’s streaming platform – beginning with a doubleheader during the season’s opening week.
The first NBA game on Peacock features the Pistons hosting the Cavs in an Eastern Conference clash. The last time these teams met in March, Detroit had a statement win – snapping a 12-game losing streak to Cleveland and locking in Detroit’s first winning season since 2016. Which team will make an early-season statement this time around?
In the nightcap, a rivalry born in the 2024 Playoffs renews when Minnesota hosts Denver. Anthony Edwards’ Wolves have won six straight against Jokić’s Nuggets – a run that began with Games 6 & 7 in the 2024 West Finals and continued with a season sweep last year. Can the Wolves keep their streak alive or will the new-look Nuggets have an answer?
> Emirates NBA Cup: Prime, ESPN, NBC/Peacock
Blake Griffin takes you through all the info you need to know as the 2025 Emirates NBA Cup schedule is announced. Catch all the action starting October 31 on Prime.
- Oct. 31: Celtics at 76ers (East B, 7 p.m. ET)
- Oct. 31: Lakers at Grizzlies (West B, 9:30 p.m. ET)
- Nov. 7: Rockets at Spurs (West C, 7:30 p.m. ET)
- Nov. 7: Warriors at Nuggets (West C, 10 p.m. ET)
- Nov. 14: Heat at Knicks (East C, 7 p.m. ET)
- Nov. 14: Warriors at Spurs (West C, 9:30 p.m. ET)
- Nov. 21: Pacers at Cavs (East A, 7 p.m. ET)
- Nov. 21: Nuggets at Rockets (West C, 9:30 p.m. ET)
- Nov. 28: Bucks at Knicks (East C, 7:30 p.m. ET)
- Nov. 28: Mavs at Lakers (West B, 10 p.m. ET)
NBA on Prime is the exclusive home for 10 Group Play games of the 2025 Emirates NBA Cup as well as the four quarterfinals, two semifinals and the Cup Championship game.
The third-annual in-season competition tips off on Prime with a Halloween doubleheader beginning with the Sixers hosting Celtics, followed by Dončić, James and the Lakers facing Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr. and the Grizzlies in Memphis.
The remaining 50 Group Play games will be split between ESPN, NBC and League Pass.
Emirates NBA Cup Hub | Key Dates | Groups | Full Group Play Schedule
The final week of Group Play opens with an NBC doubleheader on Nov. 25 with a clash between two of the game’s top players under 25 (Orlando’s Paolo Banchero and Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey) followed by the Clippers visiting the Lakers.
Cup Group Play on NBC (Tuesday, Nov. 25)
Thanksgiving Eve features an ESPN tripleheader of Group Play matchups beginning with Cade Cunningham and the Pistons visiting Jaylen Brown and the Celtics before a pair of 2025 Western Conference Playoff rematches.
Oklahoma City, which reached the 2024 Cup Championship, hosts Minnesota in a rematch of the 2025 Western Conference Finals. Then, the tripleheader closes with the Rockets visiting the Warriors in a rematch of their 2025 first-round series.
Cup Group Play on ESPN (Wednesday, Nov. 26)
- Pistons at Celtics (East B, 5 p.m. ET)
- Timberwolves at Thunder (West A, 7:30 p.m. ET)
- Rockets at Warriors (West C, 10 p.m. ET)
> NBA on Christmas Day (Thurs., Dec. 25, ABC & ESPN)
- Cleveland at New York (Noon ET)
- San Antonio at Oklahoma City (2:30 p.m. ET)
- Dallas at Golden State (5 p.m. ET)
- Houston at Los Angeles Lakers (8 p.m. ET)
- Minnesota at Denver (10:30 p.m. ET)
The NBA continues its tradition of playing games on Christmas Day with five marquee matchups on ABC & ESPN for the 78th edition of holiday hoops.
No team has appeared in more Christmas Day games (57) and has more Christmas Day wins (25, tied with the Lakers) than the Knicks. They will host the Cavaliers at Madison Square Garden to tip off this year’s slate of holiday games.
Next up, the defending champion Thunder host Wembanyama and the Spurs in Oklahoma City’s first Christmas Day game since 2018. The action continues to head West as Golden State appears in its 13th straight Christmas Day game when it hosts Klay Thompson and the Mavs.
In primetime, the top two active scorers in NBA history – James, the No. 1 all-time leading scorer, and No. 8 Kevin Durant – meet for their 44th head-to-head matchup and fifth on Christmas Day. Then, the holiday hoops marathon ends in Denver with another round in the growing Wolves-Nuggets rivalry.
> Global Games (Mexico City, Berlin & London)
The NBA will play three games outside of the United States and Canada this regular season as the game continues to grow globally.
- Mexico City Game 2025 (Saturday, Nov. 1, 10 p.m. ET, Peacock): The Mavs and Pistons will clash in the 34th NBA game played in Mexico – the most of any country outside of the U.S. and Canada (regular and preseason combined).
- NBA Berlin Game 2026 presented by Tissot (Thursday, Jan. 15, 2 p.m. ET, Prime): Ja Morant and the Grizzlies face Paolo Banchero and the Magic for the first of two games in Europe.
- NBA London Game 2026 presented by Tissot (Sunday, Jan. 18, 12 p.m. ET, Prime): The 2025-26 Global Games conclude with a second straight matchup between the Grizzlies and Magic.
> MLK Day (Monday, Jan. 19, 2026, NBC & Peacock)
- Milwaukee at Atlanta (1 p.m. ET, Peacock)
- Oklahoma City at Cleveland (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC/Peacock)
- Dallas at New York (5 p.m. ET, NBC/Peacock)
- Boston at Detroit (8 p.m. ET, NBC/Peacock)
Another full day of NBA basketball comes your way on Monday, Jan. 19 with the 40th edition of the NBA on MLK Day, featuring four matchups on NBC & Peacock.
The MLK Day slate begins on Peacock with an Eastern Conference matchup between two teams that shook up their rosters in the offseason – Milwaukee added Myles Turner while moving on from Damian Lillard, while Atlanta added Kristaps Porziņģis and Nickeil Alexander-Walker.
The NBC tripleheader tips off in Cleveland, where last season’s No. 1 seeds – the Cavs in the East and the Thunder in the West – take the spotlight again after facing off in two of last season’s most highly anticipated regular-season matchups.
In a season of firsts for this year’s No. 1 overall pick, Cooper Flagg will play his first NBA game at Madison Square Garden when Dallas visits New York on MLK Day.
A season ago, Cade Cunningham and the Pistons pulled off one of the biggest single-season turnarounds in league history. Now, as they look to keep ascending, they’ll face a perennial playoff team and title contender when Brown and the Celtics come to Motown to close out the holiday slate.
> Rivals Week: ABC, ESPN, NBC/Peacock, Prime
- Jan. 20: Spurs at Rockets (8 p.m. ET, NBC)
- Jan. 20: Lakers at Nuggets (10 p.m. ET, NBC)
- Jan. 21: Cavaliers at Hornets (7 p.m. ET, ESPN)
- Jan. 21: Thunder at Bucks (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
- Jan. 22: Warriors at Mavericks (7:30 p.m. ET, Prime)
- Jan. 22: Lakers at Clippers (10 p.m. ET, Prime)
- Jan. 23: Rockets at Pistons (7 p.m. ET, Prime)
- Jan. 23: Pacers at Thunder (9:30 p.m. ET, Prime)
- Jan. 24: Knicks at Sixers (3 p.m. ET, ABC)
- Jan. 24: Warriors at Timberwolves (5:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
- Jan. 24: Lakers at Mavericks (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
Classic and budding rivalries between teams and players will take center stage for the fourth annual NBA Rivals Week from Tuesday, Jan. 20 – Saturday, Jan. 24. Rivalries will be the focus of 11 national games over five days, with doubleheaders on NBC, ESPN and Prime Video (two), and a tripleheader on ABC.
This year’s slate features a Texas clash between the Spurs and Rockets, an NBA Cup Championship rematch between the Bucks and Thunder, an NBA Finals rematch between the Pacers and Thunder, the latest Battle of Los Angeles between the Clippers and Lakers, a twins faceoff between Amen and Ausar Thompson, and capped off by a return game for Luka Dončić when the Lakers visit the Mavs.
> NBA All-Star 2026 (Los Angeles): NBC/Peacock, ESPN
As the new home of NBA All-Star, NBC & Peacock will broadcast the Castrol Rising Stars, State Farm All-Star Saturday Night and the 75th annual NBA All-Star Game from Feb. 13-15 at Intuit Dome, home of the LA Clippers. ESPN will broadcast the Ruffles NBA All-Star Celebrity Game.
> Postseason: Prime, ABC, ESPN, NBC/Peacock
- SoFi NBA Play-in Tournament: The seventh annual competition to determine the seventh and eighth playoff seeds in each conference will take place from Tuesday, April 14 – Friday April 17, exclusively on Prime Video.
- NBA Playoffs presented by Google: The Playoffs will tip off on Saturday, April 18 and will be carried across all broadcast partners – ESPN, ABC, NBC/Peacock and Prime.
- NBA Finals presented by YouTube TV: The 80th NBA champion will be crowned in the Finals, which will be broadcast exclusively on ABC.
