The NBA offseason news have slowed to a trickle, and the next big tentpole on the NBA calendar is the release of the schedule for the 2025-26 season.
2025-26 NBA regular season schedule release date and time
The NBA has released the matchups for Opening Night, Christmas Day and MLK Day — the biggest regular season tentpoles on the schedule. The full schedule for all 30 teams will reportedly be announced Thursday, Aug. 14.
NBA Opening Night 2025 matchups
Interestingly, the NBA opted to go with four Western Conference teams for their opening night slate, perhaps an indication of how weak the East is expected to be with Achilles injuries to Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton knocking the Celtics and Pacers down a few notches.
We'll get the Thunder getting their rings and raising a banner at home against the Rockets and newly acquired Kevin Durant. That''s followed up with a familiar matchup — Steph Curry and LeBron James facing off in what could be LeBron's last season with the Lakers.
TEAMS | DATE | TIME (ET) | CHANNEL |
|---|---|---|---|
Rockets vs. Thunder | Oct. 21 | 7:30 p.m. | NBC |
Warriors vs. Lakers | Oct. 21 | 10:00 p.m. | NBC |
NBA Christmas Day 2025 matchups
The Christmas Day slate includes some surprises — No Celtics, no 76ers, no Bucks — and again, is extremely light on Eastern Conference teams. But we have some incredible matchups and a healthy mix of both young and iconic stars facing off.
TEAMS | DATE | TIME (ET) | CHANNEL |
|---|---|---|---|
Cavs vs. Knicks | Dec. 25 | 12:00 p.m. | ESPN/ABC |
Spurs vs. Thunder | Dec. 25 | 2:30 p.m. | ESPN/ABC |
Mavs vs. Warriors | Dec. 25 | 5:00 p.m. | ESPN/ABC |
Rockets vs. Lakers | Dec. 25 | 8:00 p.m. | ESPN/ABC |
Wolves vs. Nuggets | Dec. 25 | 10:30 p.m. | ESPN/ABC |
Other confirmed games on the 2025-26 NBA schedule
While you're waiting for the rest of the schedule to be revealed, a few more special games for the 2025-25 season have already been announced.
Opening Week
TEAMS | DATE | TIME (ET) | CHANNEL |
|---|---|---|---|
Cavs vs. Knicks | Oct. 22 | 7:00 p.m. | ESPN |
Spurs vs. Mavs | Oct. 22 | 9:30 p.m. | ESPN |
Thunder vs. Pacers | Oct. 23 | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN |
Nuggets vs. Warriors | Oct. 23 | 10:00 p.m. | ESPN |
Peacock Exclusives
TEAMS | DATE | TIME (ET) | CHANNEL |
|---|---|---|---|
Cavs vs. Pistons | Oct. 27 | 7:00 p.m. | Peacock |
Nuggets vs. Wolves | Oct. 27 | 9:30 p.m. | Peacock |
International Games
DATE | TEAMS | LOCATION |
|---|---|---|
Nov. 1, 2025 | Pistons vs. Mavericks | Mexico City |
Jan. 15, 2026 | Grizzlies vs. Magic | Berlin |
Jan. 18, 2026 | Magic vs. Grizzlies | London |
MLK Day:
TEAMS | DATE | TIME (ET) | CHANNEL |
|---|---|---|---|
Bucks vs. Hawks | Jan. 19 | 1:00 p.m. | NBC |
Thunder vs. Cavs | Jan. 19 | 2:30 p.m. | NBC |
Mavs vs. Knicks | Jan. 19 | 5:00 p.m. | NBC |
Celtics vs. Pistons | Jan. 19 | 8:00 p.m. | NBC |
Other important dates on the NBA calendar
After the release of the schedule, we'll have about a month before training camps open and the preseason slate begins. But if you're jonesing for high-level basketball action in that window, you can get your fix from the WNBA and the FIBA EuroBasket tournament, which will feature a ton of NBA players.
- Oct. 2-4: NBA Abu Dhabi Games — Knicks vs. 76ers
- Oct. 3-5: NBA Melbourne Series — Pelicans vs. NBL teams
- Oct. 6: NBA Canada Series — Nuggets vs. Raptors
- Oct. 10-12: NBA China Games — Nets vs. Suns
- Oct. 21: Opening Night
- Oct. 31: Emirates NBA Cup Group Play begins
- Nov. 28: Emirates NBA Cup Group Play ends
- Dec. 9-10: Emirates NBA Cup Quarterfinals
- Dec. 13: Emirates NBA Cup Semifinals
- Dec. 16: Emirates NBA Cup Finals
- Feb. 13-15: All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles, CA
- Apr. 12: Final day of the regular season
- Apr. 14-17: NBA Play-In Tournament
- Apr. 18: NBA Playoffs begin
- June 4: NBA Finals begin
- June 21: Last possible day for the NBA Finals
The time and date of the NBA Trade Deadline hasn't been announced yet but, if the league hews to the typical spacing of events, it's likely to be Thursday, Feb. 5 at 3:00 p.m. ET.
How to watch NBA games this season
The NBA is entering a new era with some broadcast rights moving from TNT to Amazon and NBC, in addition to games on ESPN and ABC as in the past. To catch all the national action, you'll need a cable package that includes ESPN, ABC and NBC, as well as an Amazon Prime subscription. The games on ESPN, ABC and NBC will also be streamed and can be viewed either through subscriptions to Peacock and Disney+ or an over-the-top service like Sling, YouTube TV or Fubo.
In addition, if you want to make sure you can watch every game for your favorite team, you'll either need to look at the local broadcast situations for each team or subscribe to NBA League Pass.