Final
Boston Celtics at Detroit Pistons
113 – 121
2026-27 · Regular season
NBA home openers Oct. 22-25: Pacers Gold Out, shirts for every fan in eight arenas, and a 3 p.m. tip in Milwaukee
Sixteen NBA teams open at home from Thursday to Sunday. Here is every giveaway, tip time in local and Cairo time, and what is new, from the Pacers' Gold Out for Haliburton's return to Hawks, Warriors, Kings, Hornets and Suns shirts and the Bucks' 3 p.m. World Series tip.
In this article
Oct. 21, 2026 — Sixteen NBA teams still have their first home game to play this week, from Philadelphia and Oklahoma City on Thursday, Oct. 22, to Minnesota on Sunday, Oct. 25. Most of them are handing something to every fan at the door. Indiana is turning Gainbridge Fieldhouse gold for Tyrese Haliburton’s return, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Charlotte, Golden State, Phoenix and Sacramento all have shirts for the whole building, Cleveland adds a rally towel to its shirt, and Milwaukee tips at 3 p.m. on a Friday because of the World Series.
Wednesday’s 11 openers are in our Wednesday home openers guide, and every game of the week is in the opening-week schedule. This page covers the 16 home openers from Thursday to Sunday.
All 16 home openers, Thursday to Sunday
Tip times come from the league schedule and the team and arena game pages. Cairo times are one day later for every game except Milwaukee’s. “Not announced” means the team has not named a giveaway for the game.
| Date | Game | Arena | Tip (local) | Tip (Cairo) | What fans get |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thu, Oct. 22 | Cavaliers at 76ers | Xfinity Mobile Arena, Philadelphia | 7 p.m. ET (ESPN) | Fri 2:00 a.m. | Giveaway T-shirt for every fan; Goldfish Blimp drop |
| Thu, Oct. 22 | Nuggets at Thunder | Paycom Center, Oklahoma City | 8:30 p.m. CT (ESPN) | Fri 4:30 a.m. | Not announced; new arena menu |
| Fri, Oct. 23 | Bulls at Bucks | Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee | 3 p.m. CT | Fri 11:00 p.m. | Custom schedule poster, first 10,000 |
| Fri, Oct. 23 | Knicks at Celtics | TD Garden, Boston | 7 p.m. ET (Prime Video) | Sat 2:00 a.m. | Home Opener presented by TD; giveaway not announced |
| Fri, Oct. 23 | Hawks at Hornets | Spectrum Center, Charlotte | 7 p.m. ET | Sat 2:00 a.m. | T-shirt for all fans |
| Fri, Oct. 23 | Mavericks at Pacers | Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis | 7 p.m. ET | Sat 2:00 a.m. | Gold Out: gold INDIANA T-shirt and Indiana-shaped net for all fans |
| Fri, Oct. 23 | Pelicans at Jazz | Delta Center, Salt Lake City | 7:30 p.m. MT | Sat 4:30 a.m. | Free plaza party from 4 p.m.; shirt for the first 1,000 Jazz Rewards members |
| Fri, Oct. 23 | Grizzlies at Warriors | Chase Center, San Francisco | 7 p.m. PT | Sat 5:00 a.m. | Warriors x Trophy Hunting shirt for all fans |
| Fri, Oct. 23 | Trail Blazers at Kings | Golden 1 Center, Sacramento | 7 p.m. PT | Sat 5:00 a.m. | Opening Night shirt and schedule magnet for all fans |
| Sat, Oct. 24 | Nets at Cavaliers | Rocket Arena, Cleveland | 7:30 p.m. ET | Sun 2:30 a.m. | Home-opener T-shirt and rally towel |
| Sat, Oct. 24 | Wizards at Bulls | United Center, Chicago | 7 p.m. CT | Sun 3:00 a.m. | SEE RED opener T-shirt; gates 5:30 p.m. |
| Sat, Oct. 24 | Spurs at Mavericks | American Airlines Center, Dallas | 7 p.m. CT | Sun 3:00 a.m. | Home Opener presented by Chase; doors 5:30 p.m.; giveaway not announced |
| Sat, Oct. 24 | Rockets at Hawks | State Farm Arena, Atlanta | 8:30 p.m. ET | Sun 3:30 a.m. | Black Harry the Hawk T-shirt for all fans; Belly Gang Kushington at halftime |
| Sat, Oct. 24 | Pelicans at Nuggets | Ball Arena, Denver | 7 p.m. MT | Sun 4:00 a.m. | Not announced |
| Sat, Oct. 24 | Warriors at Suns | Mortgage Matchup Center, Phoenix | 7 p.m. MST (NBA TV) | Sun 5:00 a.m. | Commemorative T-shirt for all fans |
| Sun, Oct. 25 | Raptors at Timberwolves | Target Center, Minneapolis | 6 p.m. CT (NBA TV) | Mon 2:00 a.m. | Jersey rally towel for every fan |
Thursday: LeBron’s first home game in Philadelphia, and Oklahoma City
LeBron James plays his first regular-season game at Xfinity Mobile Arena when Cleveland visits on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET. The Sixers say every fan in the building gets a giveaway T-shirt, and it is the first of the season’s Goldfish Blimp games, when a blimp drops Goldfish snacks and coupons over the seats before the game and at halftime.
The build-up ends today, Wednesday, Oct. 21. For the Opening Night Blue Drop, the Sixers and Independence Blue Cross are hiding free tickets to Thursday’s game somewhere in Philadelphia, with clues posted on the team’s Instagram account, and a limited number of Sixers T-shirts are hidden around the city too. Landmarks and buildings across Philadelphia will be lit blue tonight. The Opening Night Sweepstakes presented by Independence Blue Cross awards two VIP packages for the Cavaliers game, each with two lower-level tickets, two VIP parking passes, Shift4 Club access, two fan gear packages and a pregame experience.
Oklahoma City’s opener against Denver is the late ESPN game, at 8:30 p.m. CT. The Thunder have not named a giveaway. What is new is inside: smoked bologna paninis, birria nachos, pork belly burnt ends, an edible cookie dough bar and an arena-only pizza, plus graffiti-style merchandise in the team store. The full list is in our Thunder game nights guide.
Friday: a Gold Out in Indianapolis and an afternoon tip in Milwaukee
Friday is Tyrese Haliburton’s first home game that counts since Game 6 of the 2025 Finals on June 19, 2025. He missed all of 2025-26 with a torn right Achilles. The Pacers have made Opening Night presented by Kroger a Gold Out: every fan gets a gold T-shirt with “INDIANA” across the front and a net shaped like the state, and the Pacers will wear their gold pinstripe uniforms against Dallas at 7 p.m. ET. The rest of the Gainbridge Fieldhouse calendar is in our Pacers family and theme nights guide.
Milwaukee moved its opener against Chicago from 7 p.m. to 3 p.m. CT because the Brewers host Game 1 of the World Series that night. That makes it the only one of these 16 openers that tips before midnight in Cairo, at 11 p.m. Friday. The first 10,000 fans get a custom 2026-27 schedule poster, and the team is asking fans to wear their Bucks jerseys. The other giveaways are in our Bucks promotions calendar.
Out West, Golden State and Sacramento both put a shirt on every seat. At Chase Center, fans get a Warriors x Trophy Hunting shirt presented by Chase Freedom for the game against Memphis, which puts No. 11 pick Yaxel Lendeborg against No. 3 pick Cameron Boozer again after the Summer League final. The Warriors’ next home game, the Oct. 30 NBA Cup opener against the Lakers, comes with a Warriors Cup Games shirt for all fans, and the rest of the season is in our Warriors giveaways guide. In Sacramento, the Kings hand out an Opening Night shirt and a schedule magnet to everyone, the Party on the Plaza starts at 4:30 p.m. PT, and Red Panda performs at halftime against Portland (Kings theme nights).
Charlotte’s Opening Night presented by Judi Health against Atlanta comes with a T-shirt for all fans, and the Hornets play at home again on Saturday against Miami at 6 p.m. (Hornets theme nights). In Salt Lake City, the free SeatGeek Plaza party outside the Delta Center opens at 4 p.m. MT, no game ticket needed, with a Mountain Purple carpet for the players, a Chick-fil-A sandwich for the first 1,000 fans and a shirt for the first 1,000 Jazz Rewards members (Jazz opener guide).
Boston’s Home Opener presented by TD against the Knicks, the new champions, streams on Prime Video at 7 p.m. ET. The Celtics have not announced a giveaway. TD Garden’s general doors open at 6 p.m., and Boston Garden Society doors at 5 p.m. The Celtics’ bobblehead dates are in our Celtics specialty nights guide.
Saturday: shirts in Atlanta, Cleveland, Chicago and Phoenix
Every fan at State Farm Arena gets a black Harry the Hawk T-shirt from State Farm for Atlanta’s opener against Houston at 8:30 p.m. ET. Atlanta rapper Belly Gang Kushington performs at halftime and Keri Hilson sings the national anthem. Samuel Henderson, the 12-year-old bird caller from the Hawks’ schedule-release video, is coming back to do his hawk call in person. Before the game, the team is also delivering 1,200 of the shirts to Good Neighbor Clubs around Atlanta. The full calendar is in our Hawks promotions guide.
Cleveland’s home opener against Brooklyn is the end of the Cavs’ Back to Basketball Week, which started on Monday with team events and giveaways around the city. Every fan at Rocket Arena gets a home-opener T-shirt and a rally towel. The team is also running a sign-up contest for tickets to the game. Rocket Arena says escalators near Portals 7 and 62 and elevators near Portals 6 and 30 are affected by construction, so allow extra time (Cavaliers promo schedule).
Chicago’s SEE RED home opener against Washington comes with a T-shirt giveaway, and United Center gates open at 5:30 p.m. CT for the 7 p.m. tip (Bulls bobblehead series). In Phoenix, the Coca-Cola & Fry’s Food Stores Tip-Off against Golden State gives every fan a commemorative T-shirt (Suns theme nights).
Dallas and Denver have not named giveaways. The Mavericks’ Home Opener presented by Chase brings Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs to American Airlines Center, where doors open at 5:30 p.m. CT (Mavericks theme nights). The Nuggets host New Orleans at 7 p.m. MT, a night after the Pelicans play in Utah. Their behind-the-back-pass contest for four opener tickets has closed (Nuggets theme nights).
Sunday: Minnesota closes the week
The Timberwolves are the last team to open at home, against Toronto on Sunday at 6 p.m. CT. Every seat gets a jersey rally towel presented by Sezzle, and new menu items, including beef empanadas, a Reuben-loaded baked potato and Korean-style bolognese bowls, start that night. It is also the first of 12 giveaway nights at Target Center, four of them Kevin Garnett figurines (Timberwolves giveaways).
Giveaways are handed out at the doors while supplies last, and teams can change promotions without notice. Check the team or arena game page before you go.
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