Spurs With Rivalry Games on Opening Night, Christmas Day, and in Austin for F1 Week

SAN ANTONIO -- The Spurs have quickly become one of the most exciting teams in basketball, and the NBA is capitalizing on the interest with huge rivalry games on the most important days of the regular season.

The league began releasing their schedule on Tuesday, and San Antonio will have marquee matchups against key rivals. They'll open the season hosting the Oklahoma City Thunder in a rematch of the Western Conference Finals and battle of MVP frontrunners, and on Christmas Day they'll head to Madison Square Garden and attempt to avenge their Finals loss to the Knicks.

The NBA also announced that San Antonio will host the rival Houston Rockets in Austin in the first week of the season, which just so happens to line up with Formula 1 race weekend at Circuit of the Americas.

Season Opener: Spurs vs. Thunder

When: Tuesday, October 20, 8:30 p.m. CT
Where: Frost Bank Center, San Antonio
How to Watch: NBC/Peacock

The first day of the NBA season features a rematch of last year's best playoff series and features the two players who seem most likely to win Most Valuable Player this season. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will lead the Oklahoma City Thunder into the Alamo City looking for revenge against the team that ended their repeat title hopes, and the player most likely to prevent him from winning his third-consecutive MVP award in Victor Wembanyama.

To start last season, the Spurs and Thunder looked like a budding rivalry between the defending champions and a young team on the rise who could eventually challenge them for the title of Best in the West. Buds bloomed unusually early as San Antonio rose faster than expected, shifting the narrative and stamping themselves as legitimate contenders with wins against the Thunder in the NBA Cup in Vegas and on Christmas Day at the Paycom Center.

The Spurs won four of the five regular-season games, but rivalries are made in the playoffs and these teams went the distance in an epic Western Conference Finals. From Wembanyama's miraculous long-range bomb in the Game 1 double-overtime duel to this young San Antonio squad playing together to win Game 7 in Oklahoma City, this rivalry seems to bring out the best in the Spurs. These two teams are a cut above everyone else in the West, and the more they play the more they build the lore that makes these rivalries so much fun.

In the first three years of his career the media has focused on the 'rivalry' between Chet Holmgren and Wembanyama, who eventually said he feels there's no comparison on the court between the two. It's like discussing the rivalry between an antelope and a lion, especially after the playoffs. His true rival on that team is SGA, who took home the MVP in front of him last year. Now they both get to open the season by facing their biggest competition for that trophy and the more important one.

F1 in Austin: Spurs vs. Rockets

When: Friday, October 23, 8:30 p.m. CT
Where: Moody Center, Austin
How to Watch: Prime

The Spurs have worked hard over the last several years to expand their brand Austin, engaging fans and sponsors in the bustling state capital just 90 minutes up I-35. Going back to the 2022-23 season, the organization has hosted a week of events in Austin centered around two games at UT's Moody Center.

Last year Spurs Week coincided with South By Southwest, and this year the Spurs will also be in town for an additional game at the same time as Austin's biggest annual sporting event: the Formula 1 US Grand Prix. The game will be on Friday, meaning the team will likely have ample opportunity to make their presence felt at the track during qualifying on Saturday and the race on Sunday. The UT Longhorns will also be hosting Ole Miss for a football game on Saturday.

F1 is a global sport with massive stars, and there should be tons of exciting opportunities for San Antonio to capitalize on the crossover. They've already dipped their toes in, partnering last year with French automaker Alpine for a line of co-branded apparel. Drivers have attended Spurs games in recent years, and players have made the trip up for the race.

As for the game itself, UT legend Kevin Durant and the in-state rival Houston Rockets will make this a fun game. Durant has already played in one of these games two seasons ago as a member of the Phoenix Suns.

This game will be a hot ticket for fans in Austin, and in San Antonio, and in Houston, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of fans who will be coming to the city that weekend for the race. Expect delays on the highway and at the airport, along with plenty of private jets. Celebrity row might be packed for this one.

Christmas Day: Spurs @ Knicks

When: Friday, December 25, 11:00 a.m. CT
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York
How to Watch: ABC/ESPN

Christmas morning brings a gift to basketball fans around the world, as the Spurs will return to the scene of the crime at Madison Square Garden for a Finals rematch against the Knicks. Nobody will ever forget the 29-point collapse in Game 4, and no matter how this game goes San Antonians will have to spend at least part of the joyful holiday stewing on that.

Victor Wembanyama, De'Aaron Fox and the rest of this team will have had six months to stew on it, and on Christmas Day they'll have a chance to show how much they've grown as a group. This will be San Antonio's one trip to the World's Most Famous Arena this season, barring a Finals rematch in June.

It won't be the first time Wemby has played in this building on Christmas, as the Spurs and Knicks kicked off the festivities in 2024 with an instant classic. Wembanyama led the way with 42 points and 18 rebounds, but Mikal Bridges nearly matched him with 41 and New York escaped with a 117-114 win.

Knowing how Wembanyama thinks and operates, there's probably no game on the calendar more circled than this one.

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