Laces tied. Jerseys tucked. The lights dim – and the season begins.
Welcome to Opening Night on NBC.
5 stories in today’s edition 🏀
Oct. 21, 2025
NBC Returns: The 80th NBA season opens a new era on NBC and Peacock
Champs vs. Challengers: OKC’s title ‘hunt’ begins against KD and the revamped Rockets
Cali Clash: Luka and the new-look Lakers host Steph, Jimmy and the Dubs in L.A.
Amex NBA Tip-Off: Six more national games headline a star-studded Opening Week
Power Rankings: Where all 30 teams stand as the 2025-26 title chase begins
BUT FIRST … ⏰
Opening Night is just hours away …
It’s been 121 days since confetti rained down on the Paycom Center floor in celebration of the Thunder’s 2024-25 title.
Tonight on NBC, OKC will raise its first banner and receive its championship rings before opening the 2025-26 season against the Rockets (7:30 ET). Then, more West contenders clash as Steph Curry’s Warriors visit Luka Dončić and the Lakers (10 ET).
1. The NBA is back on NBC: Everything you need to know
The wait is over.
The 80th NBA season tips off tonight, and for the first time since 2002, the action returns to NBC – ushering in a new broadcast era.
As the Thunder collect their rings, an iconic voice will ring in the 2025-26 season as Mike Tirico leads NBC’s broadcast booth alongside two walking buckets – Reggie Miller and Jamal Crawford.
And that’s just the beginning.
- The Nightcap Crew: Noah Eagle, Grant Hill and Ashley ShahAhmadi take the mic for Warriors-Lakers (10 ET), bringing fresh voices and big-game energy to L.A.
- In The Studio? Hall of Famers Carmelo Anthony, Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady break it all down, with Maria Taylor and Ahmed Fareed steering the show
The network’s new lineup rolls out across NBC and Peacock all season long – broadcasting 100 regular-season games, three MLK Day matchups, approximately 28 Playoff games and NBA All-Star Weekend.
Tap into NBC & Peacock’s full schedule here and see their weekly slate below.
- Peacock NBA Monday: Starting Oct. 27, Peacock will stream up to three games nationwide every Monday night
- Coast 2 Coast Tuesday: Beginning Oct. 28, Tuesday nights bring doubleheaders on NBC and Peacock
- Sunday Night Basketball: Launching Feb. 1, Sundays feature primetime hoops on NBC and Peacock through April 5, including three doubleheaders
Beyond the broadcast, NBC is bringing the hoops celebration to the streets of New York.
- 30 Rocks At 30 Rock is taking over Rockefeller Plaza this week – a six-day fan experience featuring a custom LED court, 30 team-inspired basketballs and appearances from NBA stars like John Starks, Joakim Noah and Jason Richardson
- Jersey Day Magic: Brad Parker turned Jersey Day into a trick-shot clinic, swapping legendary threads between swishes and lighting up the plaza
- For fans at home, “Tap to Watch” makes catching games just as easy – letting you jump straight from scroll to stream across NBC & Peacock, ABC & ESPN, Prime, NBA League Pass and other NBA partners
2. Thunder’s title defense begins against Durant, Rockets
Mercedes Oliver + Alex Slitz/NBAE via Getty Images
The NBA has not seen a repeat champion since the Warriors won back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018.
In the seven seasons since, seven different teams have claimed the crown – the longest such streak in league history.
Tonight (7:30 ET, NBC), the reigning champion Thunder begin their quest to end that run.
- “You are chasing greatness,” said Jalen Williams when asked what’s driving OKC this season. “You’re chasing to achieve stuff that hasn’t been done in our organization … and that’s everybody’s motivation. That’s why we’re a special group.”
‘Special’ may be an understatement regarding what OKC accomplished last year, posting an unprecedented +12.9 regular-season point differential en route to becoming the youngest team to win an NBA title since 1977.
- The Engine: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, 27, became just the fourth player in NBA history to win the scoring title, Kia MVP and Finals MVP in the same season, joining Kareem, MJ (4x) and Shaq
- The Breakout: Williams, 24 (out tonight), earned his first All-Star nod before combining for 377 points in the Finals with SGA – trailing only LeBron & Kyrie (2016) for the most by a duo in the last 50 years
- The Anchor: Chet Holmgren, 23, returned from injury and rose to the occasion, manning the middle of OKC’s historic defense while battling some of the league’s best bigs
This summer, all three stars agreed to extensions – and they won’t be running it back alone. The Thunder return 95% of their 2024-25 regular-season minutes and 99% of their Playoff minutes – the most in the NBA.
That continuity fuels a familiar mindset – one built on hunger and aggression as OKC chases history.
- “It’s going to be [the] same mentality that we had last year,” said Williams. “Hunting every night and not being what everyone thinks as the hunted. We are going to go at teams.”
As OKC keeps hunting, Houston’s embracing the target – aiming for the same heights the Thunder have reached.
- “Playing as a hunted team with a target on their back is appealing to me,” said Rockets coach Ime Udoka at Media Day. “We’re up for the challenge.”
Rockets’ Rise: After finishing as the West’s No. 2 seed but falling in the First Round, the Rockets made the splash of the summer – adding Kevin Durant in a historic seven-team trade to pair alongside blossoming stars Amen Thompson and Alperen Sengun.
The early returns look promising.
- All Systems Go: A blend of buckets, burst & balance, KD (17.5 ppg on 56.5 FG%), Thompson (17.0 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 4.0 apg) and Sengun (13.3 ppg, 8.3 apg, 2.0 spg) showed off their unique skillsets this preseason as Houston went 4-0
- “He’s a bucket,” said Thompson on Durant last week. “Really good teammate … he wants the young guys to be leaders. He encourages us. He listens to us.”
- That youth movement includes sophomore guard Reed Sheppard, who also shined this preseason while stepping into a larger role with Fred VanVleet lost for the season (torn ACL)
Now, Durant and Houston’s young core will clash with OKC – two contenders fueled by the same hunger.
3. Cali Clash: Two West contenders take center stage in L.A.
On Feb. 2, news broke that jolted the basketball world – the Lakers had traded for Luka Dončić.
Overnight, everything changed. Dončić went from the only franchise he’d ever known to a new city, a new system and a new roster.
He still delivered. After recovering from a calf injury, Luka averaged a near triple-double in Purple & Gold (28.2 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 7.5 apg), lifting the Lakers to the No. 3 seed in a loaded West.
But the Lakers hit a wall in the Playoffs, as Minnesota ousted Los Angeles in the First Round.
“You saw at the end of last year,” said Lakers coach JJ Redick at Media Day. “The layoff from the calf injury, whatever emotions he was going through post-trade – it had an effect on him.”
After a whirlwind season, Dončić entered the offseason with clarity – transforming his body and elevating his nutrition in preparation for a nine-month title push.
- “This is his life now. This is his routine,” said Redick on Dončić’s training. “A daily commitment to the new standard that he’s set for himself…
- “His excitement level in embracing this new standard is very high … I expect the best version of Luka.”
Tonight (10 ET, NBC), that version can make a statement in primetime. With LeBron James sidelined, Dončić leads the retooled Lakers into 2025-26, surrounded by new additions Deandre Ayton and Marcus Smart, along with returning guard Austin Reaves.
Now, after months of acclimation and preparation, Luka is ready to lead a deeper run.
- “It’s a fresh start for me,” said Dončić on his first full season with L.A. “I’m very ready … and I think we can do some big things.”
Three days after the Lakers landed Luka, the Warriors traded for Jimmy Butler III.
At 25-25, Golden State sat 9th in the West. Then, magic.
- Golden Duo: With Butler and Steph Curry leading the charge, Golden State finished the season on a 23-9 run, including a 22-5 record with both players in the lineup
- Bay Boost: The duo carried the Dubs to the No. 7 seed – four wins behind the No. 2 Rockets – led the Warriors through the SoFi Play-In Tournament, then past Houston in the First Round before falling to Minnesota in the West Semis
- “Jimmy changed our season,” said head coach Steve Kerr. “Flipped everything for us, gave us a chance. We became one of the best teams in the league.”
Now, with Al Horford joining a battle-tested core, Golden State enters 2025-26 believing it’s capable of another championship push.
- “We know when we’re healthy and you’re going toe-to-toe with anybody in the West, we feel like we have a really good chance,” said Curry, who missed the final four games of the West Semis with a hamstring strain
- “It’s just, can we put it all together again – and do it for a whole year?”
4. What’s next: A star-studded week continues
It starts with ring night and ends with rivalries.
Six more national games get underway this week as part of American Express Tip-Off, from a pair of midweek ESPN doubleheaders to Prime’s NBA debut on Friday.
Here’s what to know as more star-studded showdowns near:
Wednesday on ESPN
Cavaliers at Knicks (7 ET): Cleveland and New York are neck-and-neck in the season’s first Power Rankings (see Section 5 ⬇️), and these East contenders get to measure up right away at MSG.
- Clutch Class: A tight 4th-quarter could lead to some late-game fireworks as two of the game’s most elite guards and clutch performers, Donovan Mitchell and Jalen Brunson, square off
Spurs at Mavericks (9:30 ET): It’s not every year the top two picks in the Draft make their NBA debuts against each other, but that’s exactly what Dallas’ Cooper Flagg (No. 1 pick) and San Antonio’s Dylan Harper (No. 2) get to do – spotlighting two of the league’s brightest young talents.
- Top-Pick Titans: In his first regular-season action since February, Victor Wembanyama will take on fellow top pick Anthony Davis inside – marking their first matchup as division rivals
Ronald Cortes + Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Images
Thursday on ESPN
Thunder at Pacers (7:30 ET): Opening Week takes us back to the Finals as Indy hosts OKC in a rematch from Gainbridge Fieldhouse, where the Pacers rallied to force Game 7 just four months ago.
Nuggets at Warriors (10 ET): In addition to a Finals rematch, two other recent NBA champs – and generational superstars – collide as Steph Curry and the Dubs face Nikola Jokić’s Nuggets.
Friday on Prime
Celtics at Knicks (7:30 ET): Prime’s NBA debut features two teams who go way back, as the Knicks host the Celtics at Madison Square Garden in a 2025 Playoff rematch of historic rivals.
Wolves at Lakers (10 ET): Luka Dončić. Anthony Edwards. And a can’t-miss duel between two of the game’s most dynamic guards – and fiercest competitors.
- Alpha vs. Alpha: Dončić holds a 12-11 record over Ant, but they’re 5-5 in postseason matchups, with plenty of big moments from both. Which superstar will shine brightest in a marquee finish to Opening Week?
5. Where they stand: Power Rankings entering Opening Night
The first Power Rankings for the 2025-26 NBA season have arrived. It’s time to see where all 30 teams stack up heading into American Express Tip-Off.
NBA.com’s John Schuhmann releases his rankings every Monday during the season, and Starting 5 is here to highlight the biggest shifts and storylines week-to-week.
Before any on-court action impacts the standings, check out this initial ranking of the pure potential of all 30 teams this year.
1. Thunder: Schuhmann and the GMs overwhelmingly agree – the defending champs and their returning roster have a real chance to be the NBA’s first repeat champs in seven seasons
2. Nuggets: Denver used the offseason to surround arguably the most unstoppable player on the planet, Nikola Jokić, with his best supporting cast since the 2023 title team
3. Cavaliers: The Cavs get the nod as the East’s top-ranked team, but it comes with a small margin for error following a First-Round Playoff exit as the Conference’s No. 1 seed
4. Knicks: New head coach Mike Brown is called upon to be the voice that pushes New York one step further – to their first Finals since 1999
5. Timberwolves: Two straight trips to the Western Conference Finals earn these Wolves a top-three Western Conference ranking, with new tricks from Anthony Edwards still to come
Top 10 Roundup: Clippers (6), Rockets (7), Warriors (8), Magic (9), Lakers (10)
- Early Taste: Right away, you’ll get to watch eight of these top-10 teams during Opening Week on the national stage, across NBC & Peacock, ESPN and Prime
- Full Field: See where all 30 teams stack up here
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