NBA Opening Night, Christmas Day Slates Revealed; Complete Schedule Coming Thursday

The NBA’s 2025-26 opening night and Christmas Day schedule was revealed on Friday, with the full slate of the five Christmas Day games as follows: 

Cleveland Cavaliers at New York Knicks 

San Antonio Spurs at Oklahoma City Thunder

Houston Rockets at Los Angeles Lakers 

Dallas Mavericks at Golden State Warriors 

Minnesota Timberwolves at Denver Nuggets 

In 2024-25, the Cavaliers finished first in the Eastern Conference with a 64-18 record. After sweeping the Miami Heat in the first round, the Cavs were ousted by the Indiana Pacers with relative ease in five games in the second round. The Cavaliers lost Ty Jerome to free agency in the offseason but traded for Lonzo Ball (they sent Isaac Okoro to the Chicago Bulls) and signed Larry Nance Jr. The team remains one of the top teams in the conference. 

The Knicks won 51 games (3rd in the East) and bolstered their roster with the additions of Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele. They needed to improve their bench and they did that. 

Victor Wembanyama played in only 46 games for the Spurs (34 wins) in ‘24-‘25, missing the remainder of the season with deep vein thrombosis in his shoulder. Thankfully, he has been cleared. The Spurs lost Chris Paul but drafted guard Dylan Harper (the son of former Bulls’ champion Ron) out of Rutgers and added center Luke Kornet from the Boston Celtics. 

The Thunder (68-14) retain their championship squad, and will have a healthy 2024 12th overall pick Nikola Topic, who missed his entire rookie season due to injury. Topic provides the Thunder with a prototypical backup point guard behind MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. 

The Rockets’ and Lakers’ (50 wins in ‘24-‘25 for LA) matchup is the most tantalizing of the day if both teams are healthy, with Kevin Durant added to the 52-win, 2nd-seeded Rockets. We don’t have many Durant-LeBron James duels left, and this one will be special. 

Cooper Flagg gets his first marquee ball game as the Mavericks (39 wins last season) face the Warriors (48 wins). The Mavericks will surely be without Kyrie Irving as he manages his return back from knee surgery, but Flagg, Anthony Davis, and Klay Thompson are more than enough to stay tuned in. The Mavericks also agreed to terms in the offseason with D’Angelo Russell, who will help fill the void while Irving recovers. 

Just as we are down to the last opportunities to see James and Durant on a big stage, the same is true for Stephen Curry. The Warriors retain their veteran team in hopes of a deep playoff run that culminates in what they hope will be a championship. 

The Timberwolves were disposed of quite easily by the Thunder in the Western Conference Finals, in five games. This offseason, Minnesota re-upped with Julius Randle and Naz Reid while Nickeil Alexander-Walker left for the Atlanta Hawks. Rob Dillingham, the team’s 20-year-old second year point guard who played in 49 games last season (10.5 minutes per), will see a heavily-increased role as the team’s backup point guard to veteran Mike Conley. Second-year forward Terrence Shannon Jr. (10.6 minutes per game in 32 games), will see the same increased role as he backs up Jaden McDaniels. 

The Nuggets made a big move in the offseason, trading Michael Porter Jr. to the Brooklyn Nets for Cam Johnson. Johnson, 29, is two years older than Porter Jr., but defends at a high level and is a “3 and D” player. He is a nice fit for the Nuggets. The team also brought back 2023 champion Bruce Brown to strengthen their bench. 

On October 21, the 2025-26 NBA season tips off on NBC with the Rockets at Thunder in the early game followed by the Warriors at Lakers. 

This is must-see action with Durant going back to Oklahoma City, now as a division rival, and Curry and James headlining one of their final marquee matchups. Not to mention, the tip-off too of the NBA’s new eleven-year deal with NBC that brings hoops back to the network for the first time since 2002.

The full 2025-26 NBA season schedule will be released on Thursday.