Marquee Games, Schedule, Where to Watch

The 2025-26 NBA season is almost upon us. Teams will soon begin training camp and have their preseason games as they prepare for the new campaign, which will officially tip off on October 21st.

Opening Week is one of the most highly-anticipated periods on the NBA calendar. Hoops fans who have been craving the highest level of basketball all summer long will finally get to see their favorite teams in action.

NBA Opening Week typically features the league’s marquee squads going face-to-face in blockbuster matchups to tip off the new year. With that, here is the schedule for NBA Opening Week.

NBA Opening Night: October 21

Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder

• Time: 7:30 PM ET
• Where to Watch: NBC

The NBA’s first game on the NBC network since 2002, the 2025-26 NBA season will tip off with the new Western Conference powerhouse Houston Rockets visiting the reigning NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Rockets acquired 15-time All-Star Kevin Durant this offseason to join a promising young cast, featuring Alperen Sengün and Amen Thompson. Houston will put its championship-aspiring roster against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and the rest of the defending champs.

Golden State Warriors vs. Los Angeles Lakers

• Time: 10:00 PM ET
• Where to Watch: NBC

The second game of the NBA Opening Night double-header on NBC will feature two of the all-time greats, with Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors paying a visit to LeBron James and the L.A. Lakers at the Crypto.com Arena.

Steph vs. LeBron is always a classic and this will be one of the last times we may see them go at each other. The Warriors still have title aspirations with Curry, Jimmy Butler, and Draymond Green leading the pack, and so do the Lakers, with Luka Doncic as their main man and a revamped cast supporting him and James this season.

NBA Opening Week: Other Marquee Games and Schedule

With just two games on the docket on Opening Night, the other teams will play their respective season-openers in the following days. Here are the marquee games on the schedule for NBA Opening Week.

Cleveland Cavaliers vs. New York Knicks

• Date: October 22, 2025
• Time: 7:00 PM ET
• Where to Watch: ESPN

ESPN’s first broadcast for the 2025-26 season will feature the projected top two teams in the Eastern Conference this upcoming season, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the New York Knicks.

The Cavaliers finished as the No. 1 seed in the East last year, but bowed out in the second round of the playoffs to the Indiana Pacers. The Knicks, meanwhile, reached the Eastern Conference Finals, but also fell short to the Pacers.

San Antonio Spurs vs. Dallas Mavericks

• Date: October 22, 2025
• Time: 9:30 PM ET
• Where to Watch: ESPN

The second game on ESPN’s double-header for night two will feature the no. 1 overall pick from two years ago, Victor Wembanyama, going up against this year’s top pick, Cooper Flagg.

With Wembanyama no. 2 pick Dylan Harper, and reigning Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle, the San Antonio Spurs have one of the most exciting young teams in the NBA. The Mavericks, meanwhile, are laden with a motivated cast that includes Anthony Davis, Klay Thompson, and D’Angelo Russell. This should be an exciting matchup of the NBA’s new blood testing themselves against the league’s old timers.

Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Indiana Pacers

• Date: October 23, 2025
• Time: 7:30 PM ET
• Where to Watch: ESPN

The Indiana Pacers will open their campaign against the team that denied them immortality last season, the Oklahoma City Thunder. The rematch of the 2025 NBA Finals will not carry the same excitement as their classic 7-game war earlier this June as Indiana will be without franchise star Tyrese Haliburton, who will be out for the entire season due to a torn Achilles. The Pacers also lost Myles Turner to the Milwaukee Bucks in free agency.

Nonetheless, as they showcased in Game 7 and throughout last season, this Pacers squad, led by Pascal Siakam and Andrew Nembhard, is a resilient bunch.

Denver Nuggets vs. Golden State Warriors

• Date: October 23, 2025
• Time: 10:00 PM ET
• Where to Watch: ESPN

The Denver Nuggets will open their season on the road to take on the Warriors, who will have their home opener at Chase Center. After a couple of disappointing postseasons following their 2023 NBA championship, the Nuggets appear poised to return to the top of the league. They re-acquired Bruce Brown, a vital piece to their title run, and traded for Cameron Johnson in exchange for Michael Porter Jr. in the offseason.

As for Steph Curry and the Warriors, they still hope to squeeze out one more championship and this should be a good early-season test against Nikola Jokic and company.

Boston Celtics vs. New York Knicks

• Date: October 24, 2025
• Time: 7:30 PM ET
• Where to Watch: Amazon Prime

The NBA signed a massive deal with Amazon Prime last year and the first game on the docket for the streaming platform will feature the Boston Celtics visiting Madison Square Garden to take on the New York Knicks. Boston versus New York is always a marquee matchup in the NBA calendar, but it won’t carry the same excitement as in years past. The Celtics figure to have a down season with Jayson Tatum out for the entire campaign with a torn Achilles.

Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Los Angeles Lakers

• Date: October 24, 2025
• Time: 10:00 PM ET
• Where to Watch: Amazon Prime

To cap off NBA Opening Week 2025, the Minnesota Timberwolves will pay a visit to Crypto.com Arena to take on the Los Angeles Lakers for a rematch of their first round series earlier this year.

This game will feature two of the brightest stars in the league today, Anthony Edwards and Luka Dončić. The two superstar guards have faced off in the postseason over the last two years. Doncic, while still with the Mavericks, got the best of Edwards in the 2024 Western Conference Finals. But Edwards got his revenge last year when the Timberwolves toppled Doncic and the Lakers in the first round.