Predicting NBA Marquee TV Dates, Will OKC Thunder be Featured?

The Oklahoma City Thunder are one of the title favorites in the NBA this season. With the league announcing the regular season schedule throughout this week, let's dive into how the NBA should stack its two tent pole days on the calendar: Opening night and Christmas. The two most watched dates of the NBA regular season. Should OKC be feated on both dates?

Predicting NBA Opening Night, Christmas Day Slate

Predicting Opening Night:

Philadelphia 76ers @ New York Knicks: The reigning Champions take its rightful place on opening night to receive their NBA Championship rings and hoist a banner into the rafters of the mecca. It seems like an easy call to put the new-look 76ers opposite of them. An early season meeting could make it more likely star big man Joel Embiid is healthy to flank star guard Tyrese Maxey and big name newcomers Jaylen Brown and LeBron James for this star-power driven matchup before East contenders.
Oklahoma City Thunder @ San Antonio Spurs: A rematch of the Western Conference Finals and immediately throwing the two biggest title contenders into the fire against one another. A year ago, the Thunder could not get past the Spurs no matter the setting. NBA Cup, Regular Season or Playoffs. Chet Holmgren played the worst basketball of his life. The Spurs are the new darlings of the NBA led by Victor Wembanyama who is beloved by the national media and a big ticket TV draw. Either the Thunder show life for the first time in this rivalry and silence some critics or the narratives grow louder. Either way, a mega game gets played on opening night.

Predicting the Christmas Day Slate

San Antonio Spurs @ New York Knicks: These two squads have gotten familiar with each other. Playing against one another on Christmas Day 2024, in the NBA Cup title a year ago and of course this being a rematch of the 2026 NBA Finals. Victor Wembanyama in the Mecca, Finals Rematch, enough said.
Philadelphia 76ers @ Boston Celtics: Sure, this is a gamble on the Celtics remaining a high end team but this is a franchise easy to bank on. No matter if they take a step back, the Green and White TV rating won't. Especially in a game that sees Jaylen Brown return to Boston and matchup with Jayson Tatum.
Golden State Warriors @ Houston Rockets: Steph Curry vs. Kevin Durant. Sure, why not. Look, each year there is a game or two of the schedule that doesn't make sense in terms of high stakes affairs but have other storylines. This is simple: Milk Curry and Durant while you can as still extremely popular players.
Minnesota Timberwolves @ Los Angeles Lakers: LaMelo Ball and Anthony Edwards will be an interesting pairing that everyone is excited to see play. Christmas Day is for the casuals. This will be the first time plenty of NBA fans see this duo at work. Placing them on the second to last game of the day against the new-look Luka Doncic-led Lakers makes sense for the NBA.
Oklahoma City Thunder @ Denver Nuggets: To end the night, the NBA should go with a division rivalry that has been conducive to putting out close games over recent seasons. The feeling on the Nuggets' ability to compete for a title may have dwindled nationally but it is undeniable Nikola Jokic has to have a spot on Christmas Day. Him going up against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder fill the obligation to have the Thunder on Christmas Day as well. Oklahoma City is a tool for the NBA as a team that can perfectly fit any time slot and still please their local fandom. While Spurs-Thunder can just be spammed over and over again by the league, the reason you go with a different matchup is to maximize a player such as Jokic and make the fit on this stage more seamless.

Add us as a preferred source on Google