The NBA's 2026-27 regular season will begin on October 20 with a tripleheader of games airing on NBC. The opening day schedule starts with the Boston Celtics facing the Detroit Pistons at 3 p.m. ET, followed by the New York Knicks hosting the Philadelphia 76ers at 7 p.m. ET, and concludes with the Oklahoma City Thunder playing the San Antonio Spurs at 9:30 p.m. ET [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].
The Knicks will commemorate their first NBA championship since 1973 by raising a title banner before their game against the 76ers at Madison Square Garden. This marks a major moment for New York, which swept Philadelphia 4-0 in last season's Eastern Conference semifinals [1, 3, 4, 5].
Philadelphia's game against New York will feature the debut of LeBron James with the 76ers. Jaylen Brown, acquired in the offseason through a trade that sent Paul George and multiple future draft picks to the Celtics, will also make his first appearance for Philadelphia that night [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].
The Thunder-Spurs matchup will revisit last season’s Western Conference Finals rematch, which the Spurs won 4-3 [1, 3, 4].
Looking ahead to the 2026 NBA Christmas Day, a five-game slate is set, including Knicks vs Spurs, 76ers vs Lakers (featuring LeBron James), Heat vs Celtics, Thunder vs Wolves, and Nuggets vs Warriors. Notably, the Knicks will compete in their record 59th Christmas Day game, continuing a tradition that began in 1947 [1, 3, 4].
During the offseason, Knicks backup center Mitchell Robinson signed a three-year contract worth $47.38 million with the Boston Celtics [5].
The 2026-27 NBA regular season will span 1,230 games in total [1].
