NBA opening week schedule: every game, tip time and national TV from October 20 to 25

The 2026-27 NBA regular season starts on Tuesday, October 20, and the first six game days pack 43 games into the schedule, opening with a 3 p.m. ET tip in Detroit and ending with a full Sunday slate on October 25. Monday, October 19, is dark for games, but it is still a key date: it is the last day for teams to sign eligible players to rookie scale extensions.

Every tip time below is Eastern, and each matchup links to its whynba Game Center, which carries the live score, box score and the latest status of every player.

Opening night: three games on NBC

The league begins with a tripleheader on NBC and Peacock. The afternoon opener sends the Boston Celtics to the Detroit Pistons, a meeting of the two best teams in the East last season and the first official look at Jayson Tatum alongside Paul George in Boston, with Cade Cunningham leading Detroit in front of a national audience.

At 7 p.m. ET the New York Knicks raise their 2025-26 championship banner at Madison Square Garden before facing the Philadelphia 76ers, and the night is also LeBron James‘s first regular-season game for Philadelphia, which added Jaylen Brown from Boston in July. The late game is a rematch of last spring’s Western Conference finals: the San Antonio Spurs host the Oklahoma City Thunder, the team they beat in a Game 7 after trailing that series 3-2. San Antonio won eight of the 12 meetings between the clubs last season.

The rest of the week

Wednesday is the busiest night, with 11 games. Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball play their first game together for the Minnesota Timberwolves at Miami on ESPN, Jaren Jackson Jr. returns to Memphis with the Utah Jazz, and Damian Lillard and Ja Morant open at home for the Portland Trail Blazers against Phoenix. ESPN closes the night with Stephen Curry‘s Warriors at Luka Doncic‘s Lakers. The Wizards’ opener against Milwaukee is also the first chance to see No. 1 pick AJ Dybantsa, who is day-to-day with an ankle injury.

On Thursday, James plays his first home game for the 76ers against Cleveland on ESPN before Denver visits Oklahoma City. Prime Video takes Friday with Knicks at Celtics and Rockets at Spurs, and NBA TV carries Bucks at 76ers and Warriors at Suns on Saturday plus Raptors at Timberwolves on Sunday. Philadelphia plays four times in the six days, the heaviest early load in the league.

Full schedule, October 20 to 25

Games marked Local TV are carried only by the teams’ regional outlets; the TV listings come from the teams’ own schedules and can still change.

Tuesday, October 20 (3 games)

Tip (ET)	Game	US national TV
3:00 p.m. ET	Boston Celtics at Detroit Pistons	NBC, Peacock
7:00 p.m. ET	Philadelphia 76ers at New York Knicks	NBC, Peacock
9:30 p.m. ET	Oklahoma City Thunder at San Antonio Spurs	NBC, Peacock

Wednesday, October 21 (11 games)

Tip (ET)	Game	US national TV
7:00 p.m. ET	Atlanta Hawks at Orlando Magic	Local TV
7:00 p.m. ET	Milwaukee Bucks at Washington Wizards	Local TV
7:30 p.m. ET	Minnesota Timberwolves at Miami Heat	ESPN
7:30 p.m. ET	Charlotte Hornets at Brooklyn Nets	Local TV
7:30 p.m. ET	Chicago Bulls at Toronto Raptors	Local TV
8:00 p.m. ET	Utah Jazz at Memphis Grizzlies	Local TV
8:00 p.m. ET	Indiana Pacers at New Orleans Pelicans	Local TV
8:30 p.m. ET	Dallas Mavericks at Houston Rockets	Local TV
10:00 p.m. ET	Golden State Warriors at Los Angeles Lakers	ESPN
10:00 p.m. ET	Phoenix Suns at Portland Trail Blazers	Local TV
10:30 p.m. ET	Sacramento Kings at LA Clippers	Local TV

Thursday, October 22 (2 games)

Tip (ET)	Game	US national TV
7:00 p.m. ET	Cleveland Cavaliers at Philadelphia 76ers	ESPN
9:30 p.m. ET	Denver Nuggets at Oklahoma City Thunder	ESPN

Friday, October 23 (12 games)

Tip (ET)	Game	US national TV
7:00 p.m. ET	New York Knicks at Boston Celtics	Prime Video
7:00 p.m. ET	Atlanta Hawks at Charlotte Hornets	Local TV
7:00 p.m. ET	Dallas Mavericks at Indiana Pacers	Local TV
7:00 p.m. ET	Minnesota Timberwolves at Orlando Magic	Local TV
7:00 p.m. ET	Toronto Raptors at Washington Wizards	Local TV
8:00 p.m. ET	Detroit Pistons at Miami Heat	Local TV
9:30 p.m. ET	Houston Rockets at San Antonio Spurs	Prime Video
9:30 p.m. ET	New Orleans Pelicans at Utah Jazz	Local TV
10:00 p.m. ET	Memphis Grizzlies at Golden State Warriors	Local TV
10:00 p.m. ET	LA Clippers at Los Angeles Lakers	Local TV
10:00 p.m. ET	Portland Trail Blazers at Sacramento Kings	Local TV
Time to be posted	Chicago Bulls at Milwaukee Bucks	Local TV

Saturday, October 24 (8 games)

Tip (ET)	Game	US national TV
6:00 p.m. ET	Miami Heat at Charlotte Hornets	Local TV
7:30 p.m. ET	Brooklyn Nets at Cleveland Cavaliers	Local TV
7:30 p.m. ET	Milwaukee Bucks at Philadelphia 76ers	NBA TV
8:00 p.m. ET	Washington Wizards at Chicago Bulls	Local TV
8:00 p.m. ET	San Antonio Spurs at Dallas Mavericks	Local TV
9:00 p.m. ET	New Orleans Pelicans at Denver Nuggets	Local TV
10:00 p.m. ET	Golden State Warriors at Phoenix Suns	NBA TV
Time to be posted	Houston Rockets at Atlanta Hawks	Local TV

Sunday, October 25 (7 games)

Tip (ET)	Game	US national TV
5:00 p.m. ET	Los Angeles Lakers at Utah Jazz	Local TV
6:00 p.m. ET	Indiana Pacers at Brooklyn Nets	Local TV
7:00 p.m. ET	Orlando Magic at New York Knicks	Local TV
7:00 p.m. ET	Toronto Raptors at Minnesota Timberwolves	NBA TV
7:00 p.m. ET	LA Clippers at Oklahoma City Thunder	Local TV
7:30 p.m. ET	Detroit Pistons at Philadelphia 76ers	Local TV
9:00 p.m. ET	Memphis Grizzlies at Sacramento Kings	Local TV

What comes next

The Emirates NBA Cup begins on Friday, October 30, and its group-stage results will set the last two games on every team’s 82-game schedule. Before that, the season opens with Celtics at Pistons at 3 p.m. ET on Tuesday, October 20 (Game Center). Follow every night on the schedule page, the TV schedule and the injury report.