2025-26 NBA announces schedule release after Opening Night, Christmas leaks

The marquee matchups on the biggest NBA days of the year have already been announced. Opening Night, Christmas Day game, and Martin Luther Kings Jr. Day games were already leaked by the NBA. The NBA schedule as a whole will be announced on Thursday, Aug. 14. So what matchups announced so far stand out?

Ranking Opening Night games

The rest of the NBA schedule is to be determined, but Opening Night of the 2025-26 season will be on Oct. 21, 2025.

1. Houston Rockets @ Oklahoma City Thunder

As is always the case, the defending champions will be a part of the first slate of games of the year. The Oklahoma City Thunder alone are fun to watch. They won the championship with a style not seen during recent championship runs.

Obviously, the Thunder have MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leading the way, but it was really their depth that carried the team. Even in the postseason, Oklahoma City often went 10 or 11 guys deep.

The team is filled with excellent 3-point shooters that Gilgeous-Alexander can kick the ball out to. These players are all smart with the ball in their hands and willing to make the extra pass, too.

Furthermore, the Thunder are loaded with elite defensive players. Lu Dort, Alex Caruso, Cason Wallace, and Jalen Williams are among the best point-of-attack defenders in the league, and Chet Holmgren is a great rim protector.

What makes the Thunder's Opening Night game particularly intriguing is that they will take on a Houston Rockets team with a new star. Kevin Durant will make his Rockets debut during the first day of the NBA season, and he does so against his old team.

There is still bad blood between Durant and the team that drafted him because the all-time great small forward left Oklahoma City during his prime to join a Golden State Warriors team that was already the best team in the league at that time. It just takes a glance at Durant's Twitter profile to see that the beef between him and Thunder fans is still prevalent.

More so than just the Durant return game storyline, the Rockets will be must-watch TV in 2025-26. The team is loaded with athletic specimens that are always ready to throw down thunderous dunks, and they had arguably the best offseason in the entire NBA this summer.

In addition to acquiring Durant, the Rockets added Dorian Finney-Smith and Clint Capela to an already stacked roster. Houston vs. Oklahoma City is not only the best Opening Night game, but it could be one of the best games on the entire NBA schedule.

2. Golden State Warriors @ Los Angeles Lakers

Although there are more storylines with the Thunder vs. Rockets game, the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers are still two of the biggest staples of the NBA. Stephen Curry and LeBron James have brought the league some iconic performances against each other in what has been one of the greatest rivalries in league history.

However, neither player has much time left in the league. Retirement is just around the corner for both all-time greats, so fans need to tune in while they still can.

Both players will want to add one more ring to their deep collection before they decide to call it quits. The Warriors looked much better when Jimmy Butler joined the core that also features Draymond Green, and Luka Doncic pairs with James to form arguably the best duo in the league.

Ranking Christmas Day games

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) goes to the basket for a slam dunk over Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) during the third quarter at Target Center. — Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

Christmas Day games are often regarded as the most prestigious games of the season. The NBA schedules the best teams with the biggest rivalries in the league to face each other on Dec. 25.

1. Cleveland Cavaliers @ New York Knicks

The Eastern Conference might underwhelm this upcoming season. Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton will be out for the season, severely limiting the success that the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers can find. That leaves the Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks as the two teams clearly vying to make the NBA Finals out east.

Both teams have a great balance of offense and defense. The Cavaliers have a twin-tower duo of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen that is hard to score on, while Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland carry the scoring burden. The Knicks have elite perimeter defenders in Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby, but Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns are the offensive stars.

The Cavaliers got off to one of the best starts in NBA history last year, but they were beat up by season's end. The Knicks have finally added some much-needed depth that could help them out late, too.

Cleveland vs. New York could easily be a preview of the Eastern Conference Finals, and it is hard to predict just who will come out on top on Christmas Day. This will be one of the most anticipated games on the entire NBA schedule.

2. Minnesota Timberwolves @ Denver Nuggets

The Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets have developed one of the very best rivalries in basketball. Every matchup between the two seems to end in iconic fashion. Most recently, Nikola Jokic had a 61-point triple-double, but the Timberwolves still came out victorious in the double-overtime game.

In fact, Minnesota won all four games against Denver last year, as they seemingly found the hack for besting the Nuggets. Jokic's team will certainly come out with vengeance on their mind on Christmas Day especially because they've had some big Christmas Day moments, including an iconic Aaron Gordon dunk against the Phoenix Suns a couple of years ago.

Jokic has finished top two in MVP voting in each of the last five seasons. He is the clear-cut best player in the NBA, but Anthony Edwards has a case as the face of the league.

He has led the Timberwolves to back-to-back Western Conference Finals appearances. Although that is the best stretch of postseason success in franchise history, Minnesota is desperate to take the next step forward.

Continuing to get the best of the Nuggets won't be easy in 2025-26 as Denver had a fantastic offseason. The teams swapped out Michael Porter Jr. for Cam Johnson and added Tim Hardaway Jr., Bruce Brown, and Jonas Valanciunas to bring in more depth than they've had since even before they won the championship in 2023.

3. San Antonio Spurs @ Oklahoma City Thunder

Holmgren was already mentioned as a key part of the Thunder's championship run. The skinny 7-footer is a true unicorn. He deters shots at the rim on defense but can knock down 3-point shots and put the ball on the ground on offense. Holmgren will always be compared to Victor Wembanyama, the fellow unicorn who resides in San Antonio.

The Spurs star was shut down after the All-Star break because of blood clots, but he will return to the fold on a much more stacked roster. The Spurs just handsomely paid De'Aaron Fox, and the team drafted Dylan Harper second overall.

Along with the rest of the core, which features Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson, and Rookie of the Year winner Stephon Castle, the Spurs could make some serious noise in 2025-26. The defending champions will provide them a big challenge, though. Anytime the freakishly tall and abnormally talented bigs in San Antonio and Oklahoma City square off, basketball fans must tune in.

4. Houston Rockets @ Los Angeles Lakers

The Rockets and Lakers will both play on Opening Night, but they square off against each other on Christmas Day. Alperen Sengun has developed into one of the best centers in the NBA. The five spot was the Lakers' weakest position last year after the Anthony Davis-for-Doncic trade.

The Lakers added former No. 1 pick Deandre Ayton this offseason, and the Christmas game against the Rockets will be a good test to see if his addition will be enough for the Lakers' interior. This will be James' 20th Christmas Day game of his career. Who knows, maybe it will be his last, too.

5. Dallas Mavericks @ Golden State Warriors

Although Klay Thompson isn't the level of player he once was, it is still a big deal that he will return to Golden State to play his old team during a prime-time game. Thompson became one of the best 3-point shooters ever as a member of the Warriors' Splash Brothers duo.

Perhaps the bigger story during this game is that it will be Cooper Flagg's first Christmas Day game. Flagg was one of the best prospects in recent memory, and he could be a staple on Dec. 25 for years to come.

If the Mavericks can stay healthy, they have a dangerous team, but health was a major issue last season. Hopefully, the often-injured Davis will be good to go during this prime-time game.

Other notable games on the NBA schedule

In addition to Opening Night and Christmas Day games, every game on MLK Day and a few notable games during the opening week have been scheduled and announced by the NBA.

Oct. 22:

In a preview of the most anticipated Christmas Day game, the Cavaliers will face the Knicks in just the third game overall of the new NBA season. Furthermore, the Mavericks will take on the Spurs on Oct. 22 in a battle of the top two picks from the 2025 NBA Draft. Flagg vs. Harper has the makings of an iconic rivalry, and the NBA is getting to it quickly. The games will be on ESPN.

Oct. 23:

Two more exciting prime-time games will take place on Oct. 23 on ESPN. Firstly, the Pacers will rematch the Thunder and try to avenge their NBA Finals loss. Of course, this will happen without Tyrese Haliburton, but Indiana will certainly be looking for blood after coming up just short of a championship. The Nuggets will also take on the Warriors. Jokic is trying to establish himself as a top 10 player of all time, but Curry is already there.

Oct. 27:

Oct. 27 will see two games broadcast exclusively on Peacock. The Cavaliers and Knicks have already been described as the two biggest threats in the Eastern Conference. The former of those two will take on another team in the running for Eastern Conference supremacy: the Detroit Pistons. The Pistons have a young and exciting core that went from league bottom dwellers two seasons ago to legitimate threats last year. The Nuggets will also take on the Timberwolves, meaning this rivalry will be in the spotlight multiple times throughout the season.

MLK Day (Jan. 19):

There are four games slated to be played on MLK Day. The Milwaukee Bucks vs. Atlanta Hawks game will be on Peacock. The Bucks and Hawks both have new looks this season. Milwaukee moved on from Damian Lillard but bought in Myles Turner, and the Hawks added Kristaps Porzingis, Luke Kennard, Asa Newell, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker.

The other three games on MLK Day will be broadcast on both Peacock and NBC. The Thunder will play the Cavaliers in a potential NBA Finals preview, Flagg will head to Madison Square Garden to take on the Knicks in the biggest venue in basketball, and the Celtics will play the Pistons. Because of the injury to Tatum, the Celtics are going to look a lot different this season.