NBA Tip-Off 2026 TV schedule: Knicks banner night, ESPN debuts and Prime’s Austin game

The 2026-27 NBA season opens Tuesday, Oct. 20, and the first four nights of American Express NBA Tip-Off are spread across three national partners: NBC and Peacock on opening night, ESPN on Wednesday and Thursday, and Prime Video on Friday. Here is the full national TV lineup for opening week, with all times Eastern.

Tuesday, Oct. 20: NBC/Peacock tripleheader

NBC and Peacock open the season with the first season-opening tripleheader in their coverage, according to the NBA.

• 3 p.m. Boston Celtics at Detroit Pistons (NBC/Peacock). The matinee pairs the two teams that finished with the best records in the Eastern Conference in 2025-26, and Paul George makes his Celtics debut.
• 7 p.m. Philadelphia 76ers at New York Knicks (NBC/Peacock). The defending champion Knicks raise their 2025-26 championship banner at Madison Square Garden before facing a new-look Philadelphia team with LeBron James and Jaylen Brown making their 76ers debuts. Live coverage starts with NBA Showtime at 6:30 p.m., and ESPN Radio carries the game nationally.
• 9:30 p.m. Oklahoma City Thunder at San Antonio Spurs (NBC/Peacock). A rematch of the seven-game 2026 Western Conference Finals closes the night at Frost Bank Center.

NBC has also said it will air live team introductions on opening night.

One thing we can get John Turturro and Kevin Hart to agree on: our NBA Tip-Off Tripleheader is gonna be FIRE.🔥

Tuesday, Oct 20 on NBC & Peacock. pic.twitter.com/2UZ6AlJlEh

— NBA on NBC and Peacock (@NBAonNBC) October 10, 2026

Wednesday, Oct. 21: ESPN doubleheader

ESPN, now in its 25th straight season of NBA coverage, starts its regular-season schedule one night later with the first of two opening-week doubleheaders.

• 7:30 p.m. Minnesota Timberwolves at Miami Heat (ESPN). Giannis Antetokounmpo makes his Heat debut, and LaMelo Ball plays his first game for Minnesota.
• 10 p.m. Golden State Warriors at Los Angeles Lakers (ESPN). Stephen Curry faces Luka Dončić, and Walker Kessler opens his first season with the Lakers.

Thursday, Oct. 22: ESPN doubleheader

• 7 p.m. Cleveland Cavaliers at Philadelphia 76ers (ESPN). LeBron James makes his Philadelphia home debut against Donovan Mitchell, James Harden and the Cavaliers.
• 9:30 p.m. Denver Nuggets at Oklahoma City Thunder (ESPN). Two-time reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokić meet at Paycom Center.

Friday, Oct. 23: Prime Video doubleheader

Prime Video opens its second season as an NBA partner with two games.

• 7 p.m. New York Knicks at Boston Celtics (Prime Video), at TD Garden.
• 9:30 p.m. Houston Rockets at San Antonio Spurs (Prime Video), played in Austin, Texas.

Where the games stream

Every national game is also available on a streaming service: the ESPN App for ABC and ESPN games, Peacock for NBC games and Prime Video for Amazon games. Games without a national broadcast are on local TV in each team’s market and on NBA League Pass outside those markets. Peacock NBA Monday starts Oct. 26 with Warriors at Nuggets, and NBC’s Coast 2 Coast Tuesday doubleheaders begin Oct. 27.

Tickets for opening week

Tickets for opening-week games are sold through each team’s official ticket page and the league’s official ticketing partner, Ticketmaster, via NBATickets. Prices, fees and availability are set by the seller and venue, so confirm the final total before you buy. For every team’s next home dates, see the whynba tickets guide, and for the full season calendar, see the 2026-27 key dates page.

Sources: NBA official schedule release, NBA.com, NBA Communications and NBA on NBC on X.