Karl-Anthony Towns (pictured) and the New York Knicks will host LeBron James and the Philadelphia 76ers in their 2026 regular-season opener Oct. 20 in New York. File Photo by Peter Foley/UPI
1 of 6 | Karl-Anthony Towns (pictured) and the New York Knicks will host LeBron James and the Philadelphia 76ers in their 2026 regular-season opener Oct. 20 in New York. File Photo by Peter Foley/UPI |
Aug. 11 (UPI) -- LeBron James and the Philadelphia 76ers will face the New York Knicks as part of an NBC triple-header to open the 2026 NBA season, the league announced Tuesday.
Cade Cunningham and the Detroit Pistons will host Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics to launch the NBA's regular-season campaign at 3 p.m. EDT Oct. 20 in Detroit.
NBA Finals MVP Jalen Brunson and the Knicks will host the 76ers in the next game at 7 p.m. at Madison Square Garden, where they will raise their championship banner.
Victor Wembanyama and the NBA Finals runners-up San Antonio Spurs will host back-to-back MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder in the nightcap at 9:30 p.m. in San Antonio.
The NBA announced several other matchups, including several for the opening week and Christmas.
Giannis Antetokounmpo will make his Miami Heat debut against the Minnesota Timberwolves at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 21 in Miami. LaMelo Ball also will make his Timberwolves debut in that meeting.
Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers will host Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors at 10 p.m. the same night in Los Angeles. Those two matchups will air on ESPN.
James and the 76ers will face one of his former teams, the Cleveland Cavaliers, at 7 p.m. Oct. 22 in Philadelphia. The Thunder will host Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets at 9:30 p.m. Oct. 22 in Oklahoma City. Those games also will air on ESPN.
The Celtics will host the Knicks at 7 p.m. Oct. 23 in Boston. The Spurs will host Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets at 9:30 p.m. Oct. 23 in San Antonio. Those matchups will air on Prime.
The NBA's ABC/ESPN Christmas slate features most of the aforementioned teams. The Knicks will host the Spurs in the first matchup at noon EST Dec. 25. Other Christmas matchups include Heat-Celtics, 76ers-Lakers, Thunder-Timberwolves and Nuggets-Warriors.
The full NBA scheduled will be released at 3 p.m. Thursday.