The leaks were all true. The NBA officially announced its opening night and Christmas Day matchups Tuesday, and they won't come as a surprise to those who have been paying attention.
The defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder will kick off the 2025-26 NBA season on opening night in a matchup against Kevin Durant's Houston Rockets on Oct. 21. That game will take place at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Later that night, the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors will square off to open the season.
All four of those teams will also play on Christmas Day, which features a full, five-game slate. Here's the full league schedule for Dec. 25:
Cleveland Cavaliers vs. New York Knicks at 12 p.m. ET
San Antonio Spurs vs. Oklahoma City Thunder at 2:30 p.m. ET
Dallas Mavericks vs. Golden State Warriors at 5:00 p.m. ET
Houston Rockets vs. Los Angeles Lakers at 8:00 p.m. ET
Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Denver Nuggets at 10:30 p.m. ET
NBA fans paying close attention to the news shouldn't be surprised by those matchups, which were leaked by ESPN's Shams Charania on Friday. In addition to those games, however, the NBA also revealed a four-game slate on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and confirmed a few more marquee early-season matchups.
This story will be updated.
Comments