2026-27 NBA Regular Season Begins October 20
The NBA released the complete 2026-27 regular-season schedule on August 13, 2026. The regular season is scheduled to begin on October 20, 2026, and conclude on April 11, 2027.
The opening-day NBC and Peacock tripleheader features the Boston Celtics vs. Detroit Pistons, Philadelphia 76ers vs. New York Knicks, and Oklahoma City Thunder vs. San Antonio Spurs.
The key point about opening night is not only the three games themselves, but also that U.S. national coverage for the 2026-27 season will be distributed across multiple platforms.
Regular-Season Schedule Tied to the NBA Cup
The NBA said that the dates and opponents for 80 of each team’s 82 regular-season games have been set. The remaining two games will be assigned between December 4 and 10, 2026, based on the results of NBA Cup group play.
The 2026 Emirates NBA Cup group-play games will be held from October 30 through November 27, including Friday Cup Nights and additional Cup Nights on November 24 and 25. The knockout rounds are scheduled as follows:
- Quarterfinals: December 4–5, 2026
- Semifinals: December 8–9, 2026
- Championship: December 11, 2026, at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis
Therefore, although the complete regular-season schedule has been released, the dates for all 82 games for every team were not finalized at once.
U.S. National Coverage Divided by Platform
According to the NBA’s official announcement, the U.S. national game broadcast and streaming partners for the 2026-27 season are Disney, NBCUniversal, and Amazon.
| Partner | Platforms and confirmed programming |
|---|---|
| Disney | ABC, ESPN and ESPN Radio; ABC Saturday Primetime; Wednesday games on ESPN; five Christmas Day games |
| NBCUniversal | 100 regular-season games across NBC, Peacock and NBCSN |
| Amazon | 67 regular-season and Emirates NBA Cup games on Prime Video |
Prime Video was also identified as the exclusive home of six games from the 2027 SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament and the 2027 Eastern Conference Finals.
Christmas Day and Remaining Announcements
The five 2026 Christmas Day NBA games are scheduled to be available on ABC, ESPN and the ESPN App. The first game features a rematch of the 2026 NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs.
However, the NBA TV schedule for the 2026-27 season remained listed as forthcoming at the time of the official announcement on August 13, 2026. In addition, because these materials concern U.S. national programming, they should not be interpreted as confirming domestic Korean broadcast platforms or commentator schedules.