NBA announces opening night, Christmas, MLK schedules
Aug. 12 (UPI) -- The NBA announced 17 matchups for the 2025-26 regular season Tuesday, including two on opening night, five on Christmas and four on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder will host Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets in the regular season opener. That game will tip off at 7:30 p.m. EDT Oct. 21 in Oklahoma City.
LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers will host Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors in the opening night finale at 10 p.m. Oct. 21 in Los Angeles.
The opening night matchups will air on NBC and Peacock.
ESPN will air an additional four opening week matchups, starting with a New York Knicks-Cleveland Cavaliers matchup at 7 p.m. Oct. 22 in New York.
Cooper Flagg, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and the Dallas Mavericks will host No. 2 pick Dylan Harper and the San Antonio Spurs at 9:30 p.m. Oct. 22 in Dallas.
The Indiana Pacers will host the Thunder in an NBA Finals rematch at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 23 in Indianapolis. The Warriors will host Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets at 10 p.m. Oct. 23 in San Francisco.
Peacock will air two exclusive matchups on Oct. 27. The Detroit Pistons will host the Cavaliers in the first game at 7 p.m. in Detroit. Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves will host the Nuggets at 9:30 p.m. in Minneapolis.
The Knicks will host the Cavaliers again to launch NBA's Christmas Day slate. That game will tip off at noon in New York. The Thunder will host the Spurs in the second of five Christmas matchups at 2:30 p.m. in Oklahoma City. The Warriors will face the Mavericks at 5 p.m. at Chase Center. The Lakers will host the Rockets at 8 p.m. in Los Angeles.
Jokic and the Nuggets will host the Timberwolves in the Christmas Day finale at 10:30 p.m. in Denver. The Christmas games will air on ABC and ESPN.
The Atlanta Hawks will host the Milwaukee Bucks in the first of four Martin Luther King Jr. Day matchups at 1 p.m. Jan. 19 in Atlanta. The Cavaliers will play the Thunder at 2:30 p.m. in Cleveland.
The Knicks will take on the Mavericks at 5 p.m. in New York. The Pistons will host the Boston Celtics at 8 p.m. in Detroit. The Martin Luther King Jr. matchups will air on NBC and Peacock.
The NBA plans to announce additional matchups throughout this week as part of a schedule release campaign.
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