NBA reveals 2026-27 Opening Week and Christmas Day matchups
The NBA has announced the headline games for the opening week and its five-game Christmas Day slate.
The NBA has revealed the headline matchups for the 2026-27 season's opening week and Christmas Day. The announcement was made on August 11 through the league's official schedule release, with selected games unveiled on NBC's TODAY, ABC's Good Morning America and CBS Mornings.
Three games open the season
The first day, Tuesday, October 20, begins with Boston visiting Detroit at 3 p.m. ET. Philadelphia then travels to New York at 7 p.m. ET, when the Knicks will receive their 2025-26 championship rings and raise their banner. Oklahoma City visits San Antonio at 9:30 p.m. ET to complete the tripleheader, with all three games scheduled for NBC and Peacock.
Opening Week brings new pairings
ESPN's Wednesday doubleheader on October 21 starts with Minnesota at Miami at 7:30 p.m. ET, followed by Golden State at the Los Angeles Lakers at 10 p.m. ET. On Thursday, October 22, Cleveland visits Philadelphia at 7 p.m. ET before Denver travels to Oklahoma City at 9:30 p.m. ET.
Prime Video's Friday doubleheader on October 23 features New York at Boston at 7 p.m. ET and Houston at San Antonio in Austin at 9:30 p.m. ET.
Five games on Christmas Day
The Christmas Day programme on Friday, December 25 will run across ABC and ESPN. San Antonio visits New York at noon ET, followed by Miami at Boston at 2:30 p.m., Philadelphia at the Los Angeles Lakers at 5 p.m., Oklahoma City at Minnesota at 8 p.m. and Denver at Golden State at 10:30 p.m.
The complete schedule and the league's full notes are available in the official NBA announcement.
Sources and reporting
Primary source: NBA, ‘Marquee early-season games tip off 2026-27 NBA Schedule Release presented by Ticketmaster’, updated August 11, 2026: https://www.nba.com/news/2026-27-schedule-announced Image: official NBA CDN image.