2025-2026 NBA Schedule Release: Opening Night, Christmas Day, Rivals Week, NBA Cup, MLK Day, and New Network Format 

The 2025-26 NBA schedule was released on Thursday. It was announced that season-long national games will be seen Mondays on Peacock, Tuesdays on NBC and Peacock, Wednesday on ESPN, and Friday on Prime Video. Weekly national games starting at midseason on Thursdays will be seen on Prime Video, games on Saturday will be seen on ABC, ESPN, and Prime Video, and Sunday games on ABC, ESPN, and NBC and Peacock. The 2026 SoFi Play-In Tournament will be broadcast on Prime Video. 

The national television games for the first week of the regular season are as follows: 

Tuesday, October 21 (NBC, Peacock)

Houston @ Oklahoma City - 7:30 p.m

Golden State @ Los Angeles Lakers - 10:00 p.m. 

Wednesday, October 22 (ESPN)

Cleveland @ New York - 7:00 p.m. 

San Antonio @ Dallas - 9:30 p.m. 

Thursday, October 23 (ESPN)

Oklahoma City @ Indiana - 7:30 p.m. 

Denver @ Golden State - 10:00 p.m.

Friday, October 24 (Prime) 

Boston @ New York - 7:30 p.m. 

Minnesota @ Los Angeles Lakers - 10:00 p.m.

Monday, October 27 (Peacock) 

Cleveland @ Detroit - 7:00 p.m. 

Denver @ Minnesota - 9:30 p.m. 

Tuesday, October 28 (NBC, Peacock) 

New York @ Milwaukee - 8:00 p.m. 

Los Angeles Clippers @ Golden State - 11:00 p.m. 

*The above 11:00 p.m. start is something that the NBA is introducing this season, Coast 2 Coast Tuesday on NBC and Peacock. It is obviously a shift from what they had done in the past with 10:30 p.m. eastern time games, but they will still get large viewership out west. 

Christmas Day Schedule (ESPN, ABC)

Cleveland @ New York - 12:00 p.m.

San Antonio @ Oklahoma City - 2:30 p.m.

Dallas @ Golden State - 5:00 p.m.

Houston @ Los Angeles Lakers - 8:00 p.m.

Minnesota @ Denver - 10:30 p.m.

Among the key dates throughout the season are Rivals Week, which is Tuesday, January 20 through to the following week, the NBA Cup, which tips October 31, and the Martin Luther King Day games. 

The Rivals Week schedule is as follows: 

Tuesday January 20 (NBC/Peacock)

San Antonio @ Houston - 8 p.m.Los Angeles Lakers @ Denver - 10:00 p.m.

Wednesday January 21 (ESPN)

Cleveland @ Charlotte 7:00 p.m. 

Oklahoma City @ Milwaukee 9:30 p.m. 

Thursday January 22 (Prime)

Golden State @ Dallas 7:30 p.m. 

Los Angeles Lakers @ Los Angeles Clippers 10:00 p.m. 

Friday January 23 (Prime)

Houston @ Detroit 7:00 p.m. 

Indiana @ Oklahoma City 9:30 p.m. 

Saturday January 24 (ABC)

New York Knicks @ Philadelphia - 3:00 p.m.

Golden State @ Minnesota - 5:30 p.m.

Los Angeles Lakers @ Dallas 8:30 p.m.

The NBA Cup

The 2025-26 NBA Cup begins play on October 31. Per NBA Communications, five consecutive Friday night double-headers of the Cup will be streamed on Prime Video. 

NBA Cup October 31 

Boston @ Philadelphia 

Los Angeles Lakers @ Memphis 

NBA Cup Triple-Header November 26 (ESPN)

Detroit @ Boston - 5:00 p.m. 

Minnesota @ Oklahoma City 7:30 p.m. 

Houston @ Golden State 10:00 p.m. 

NBA Cup Double-Header November 27 (Prime) 

Milwaukee @ New York 

Dallas @ Los Angeles Lakers 

NBA Cup Knockout Stages (Prime Video) 

Quarterfinals - December 9 and 10 

Semifinals - December 13 (Las Vegas) 

Finals - December 16 (Las Vegas) 

The NBA will play two games overseas this season, in January 2026, in Berlin, Germany and London, England. Both games will feature the Orlando Magic and the Memphis Grizzlies. The Berlin game is Thursday, January 15 at 2:00 p.m. (eastern) and the London game is at noon eastern time on January 18. Both games will be available on Prime Video. 

From January to April, there will be Thursday night double-headers on Prime Video. 

January 15 

Oklahoma City @ Houston - 7:30 p.m. 

New York @ Golden State - 10:00 p.m. 

January 22 

Golden State @ Dallas 7:30 p.m. 

Los Angeles Lakers @ Los Angeles Clippers - 10:00 p.m. 

Select Saturday afternoon games from January to April will be streamed on Prime Video. 

March 28 

San Antonio @ Milwaukee - 3:00 p.m. 

April 4 

San Antonio @ Denver - 3:00 p.m. 

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday, January 19, the four national television games will be broadcast on NBC and Peacock. 

Martin Luther King Jr. Day - January 19 

Milwaukee @ Atlanta - 1:00 p.m. (Peacock)

Oklahoma City @ Cleveland - 2:30 p.m. (NBC, Peacock)

Dallas @ New York Knicks - 5:00 p.m. (NBC, Peacock)

Boston @ Detroit - 8:00 p.m. (NBC, Peacock)

On the final day of the regular season on April 12, seven Eastern Conference games will start at 6:00 p.m., and the seven Western Conference games will start at 8:30 p.m. The one cross-conference game, that sees the Chicago Bulls visit the Dallas Mavericks, is an 8:30 p.m. tip off.