The Top 25 Must-Watch Games of the 2026–27 NBA Season, and Why They Matter

Basketball fans, the 2026–27 NBA regular season schedule is officially out. You now have our permission to sift through all 82 games on your favorite team’s schedule and dream about the wins and banners (... or lackthereof) ahead.

A lot has happened in the NBA since blue-and-orange confetti rained down at City Hall in New York to celebrate the Knicks’ 2026 championship in June. LeBron James signed with the 76ers. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown split up. LaMelo Ball is now in the Twin Cities. All of those faces in new places, along with budding rivalries from years past, adds up to plenty of intriguing storylines that we’ll be tracking all season long.

Here are 25 games that you won’t want to miss, starting with an exciting opening night:

Oct. 20—Thunder @ Spurs: Western Conference finals rematch

Oklahoma City and San Antonio make up the NBA’s best new rivalry. Thunder-Spurs is a heavyweight bout we hope to see in the Western Conference finals for years to come. Last year, their WCF series met the mark with Wembanyama doing things we’ve never seen on a basketball court before as the Spurs ultimately beat the Thunder in seven games. San Antonio had OKC’s number in the regular season last year, we’ll see what adjustments Thunder coach Mark Daigneault has in store to change that narrative.

Oct. 21—Jazz @ Grizzlies: Jaren Jackson Jr. returns to Memphis

Just four years ago, the Grizzlies took the Warriors to the brink in the Western Conference semifinals and looked like a budding powerhouse. Fast forward to 2026, though, and that core has broken up. Now in Utah, Jaren Jackson Jr. will make his return to Memphis for the first time since he was dealt at the trade deadline in February in a massive eight-player deal.

Oct. 21—Suns @ Trail Blazers: Portland’s home opener

Damian Lillard is the most beloved Trail Blazer of the modern era and spent last year recovering in Portland from a torn Achilles. By opening night, the hype will hit a fever pitch, and not even the questionable cost-cutting measures from team owner Tom Dundon can stop it. Lillard competed in and won the three-point contest last season while he was sidelined—one can only assume he’s itching for real game action. Plus, the Blazers’ home opener marks Ja Morant’s first game in front of his new fans after a difficult offseason for a dedicated NBA fan base. The place will be rockin’.

Oct. 21—Timberwolves @ Heat: A big ‘what if?’

The Wolves were in the mix to land Giannis Antetokounmpo this offseason until the “Greek Freak” packed his bags for South Beach. NBA fans who wanted to see the Giannis-Ant pairing on the same bench will have to settle for this clash when they share the same court.

Oct. 23—Mavs @ Pacers: Indiana’s home opener

Tyrese Haliburton tearing his Achilles was a gut punch to fans of any sport and hurt Indiana fans the most. While Indiana opens the year on the road at New Orleans, Haliburton’s season debut at Gainbridge Fieldhouse will be a joyous occasion. The cheers for his introduction will probably shake the camera. Expectations should be measured for the star point guard’s first game since June 2025—but he’ll be back on the court, and it’ll be a beautiful moment for everybody.

Nov. 2—Raptors @ Clippers: Which team will Kawhi play for?

This will be interesting no matter what happens! The Kawhi Leonard trade is still in limbo as of now. If it’s executed before the season, then this will be another homecoming game as Leonard plays in the arena he helped build in enemy colors for the first time ever. If the trade doesn’t go down for one reason or another, this game will contain plenty of echos from that outcome. Pick your narrative thread and enjoy.

Nov. 6—76ers @ Cavaliers: LeBron returns home

LeBron will play his hometown Cavaliers in his first home game in Philadelphia on Oct. 22. A shrewd move by the league to make James’s home debut as a 76er against one of the teams he spurned in free agency. The 76ers and the Cavs meet again a couple weeks later in Cleveland, which marks James’s first trip back hope after he passed on a third stint with the franchise that drafted him. The franchise gave James a lot of love last season in his sole trip to Rocket Arena—it will interesting to see whether the tide turns after the events of the offseason. Cavs fans can’t have any animosity toward the kid from Akron, right?

Nov. 22—Pacers @ Knicks: Tyrese Haliburton, the MSG villain

A rematch of the 2025 Eastern Conference finals where Haliburton embraced his inner Reggie Miller and turned into an incredible Madison Square Garden villain. Plenty has changed since then and Knicks fans have found new villains in Wembanyama and even CJ McCollum, but there will be no love lost between Haliburton and the opposing fan base. After a down year due to the star point guard’s absence, the Pacers hope to prove they are still a power even in a much improved Eastern Conference. There’s no better way to do that than beating the defending champs on their home floor.

Nov. 25—Heat @ 76ers: A Thanksgiving feast in the East

A clash of the East’s two freshly-formed powers is juicy and it comes within the first month of the season. The Heat will visit the 76ers on Thanksgiving eve as both sides look to test their mettle against fellow star-studded rosters. The outcome will be a fascinating measuring stick in terms of where these two teams are at with building chemistry and figuring out their identity. It also (hopefully!) is early enough that injuries won’t play a part, and at full health the two sides are pretty evenly matched.

Dec. 18—Cavaliers @ Pistons: Game 7 rematch

The Cavs blew out Detroit 125–94 in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals in May. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Cleveland blew out Detroit on its home court in Game 7 of the second round to advance to the Eastern Conference finals. The Pistons and the Cavaliers will meet four times next season, but you better believe Detroit will come out with a little extra juice when Cleveland comes to town for the first time. Although other Eastern Conference teams made the star acquisitions this offseason, the two sides still make up two contenders that each had significant playoff experience as a group last year.

Dec. 25—76ers @ Lakers: The King lands back in L.A.

LeBron returns to Los Angeles on Christmas. As always, it’s storybook stuff with The King. How he’s received by the Lakers crowd will be interesting to watch, and if JJ Redick doesn’t sub Bronny in to guard his dad, fans should protest. But the actual basketball should be great to watch. The 76ers have more aggregate talent than the Lakers at this stage but L.A. put together a far more complementary roster around a top-three player in Luka Dončić. Which method will prove more effective to winning? We can’t wait to find out as the eggnog sets in.

Dec. 25—Spurs @ Knicks: NBA Finals rematch

The first NBA Finals rematch of the season is always an exciting game to look forward to, and given how electric the 2026 Finals were, we’re even more jacked up to see the Spurs take on the Knicks again. The fact that it’s coming on Christmas Day as the first game on the league’s marquee date is just a bonus. The energy at Madison Square Garden will be absolutely electric as NYC’s new public enemy No. 1 Victor Wembanyama returns with his team for the first time since their legendary Game 4 collapse. And after five games decided by razor-thin margins earlier this year, it’s a good bet this will be a thrilling watch.

Dec. 28—Timberwolves @ Nuggets: Jaden McDaniels brings the smack talk into a new season

This rivalry has been bubbling for a few years now. The Wolves and Nuggets have met in the postseason in three of the past four years, with Minnesota winning two of those series, including a six-game victory in the first round last spring. It’ll be interesting to see how the Nuggets attack Jaden McDaniels this season after he called out Denver for being “bad defenders” during the playoffs.

Dec. 30—Rockets @ Warriors: KD vs. Draymond

It’s always a must-watch when Kevin Durant meets his former team on the floor. To add a little spice this year, Durant recently said the current 76ers are a better team than the 2016–17 Warriors and seemingly took a side swipe at Dubs legend Klay Thompson along the way. Does it matter? No. Is it a fun talker in August, though? Absolutely.

Dec. 30—76ers @ Suns: LeBron vs. Dillon Brooks, yet again

Dillon Brooks. LeBron James. Get your popcorn ready. LeBron now wearing a 76ers jersey certainly won’t stop Brooks, the NBA’s signature villain, from his antics after he tried to get under James’s skin in May by attending a Lakers-Thunder playoff game and clearly enjoying his viewing of the Thunder stomping on Los Angeles in a four-game sweep.

Jan. 21—76ers @ Celtics: Jaylen Brown heads back to Beantown

Jaylen Brown’s return to Boston! He will be received well by the crowd after 10 years of hard work and championship success with the Celtics. It will also be extremely temping for this to be the first referendum on whether Brad Stevens made the right call to offload Brown for Paul George and two draft picks. We should all try to resist that temptation, but we’re only human. Hopefully Brown guards Jayson Tatum so we can watch the two go head-to-head for the first time in their NBA careers outside of the All-Star game.

Jan. 28—Heat @ Bucks: Giannis Night in Milwaukee

Giannis’s homecoming. It will be emotional as arguably the greatest player in franchise history comes back to Milwaukee for the first time since he was traded. It also might get physical after Bam Adebayo punched Tyler Herro earlier this summer. The competition won’t be very fierce given the Bucks will finish near the bottom of the East while the Heat are competing for a title, but the narrative juice makes it worth tuning into.

Jan. 29—Hornets @ Timberwolves: The Naz Reid Game

Naz Reid’s return to the Twin Cities might be the most emotional homecoming game of them all. Timberwolves fans absolutely love Reid to a rare degree, and it’s not going to fade anytime soon. He will be greeted with a roaring standing ovation upon checking in for the first time. At that point Minnesota should probably crush Charlotte but what a scene this is going to be.

Feb. 5—Pacers @ Thunder: Haliburton gets another shot in OKC

The Pacers were robbed of a Christmas Day game and 2025 NBA Finals rematch last season due to Haliburton’s injury. Indiana still met OKC early in the season and took the Thunder to two overtimes before the Haliburton-less bunch ultimately lost. When Indiana travels to Oklahoma City this season, it marks the first time Haliburton returns to the floor where he suffered the devastating Achilles injury. After an extremely long layoff, the Pacers finally get a true shot at a rematch.

Feb. 15—Timberwolves @ Hornets: LaMelo’s revenge game

LaMelo Ball coming back to Charlotte is another one of the NBA’s various homecoming games scheduled for this year. He was a fan favorite for the lowly Hornets throughout their bad years earlier in the decade before playing a key role in their shocking run to the play-in tournament last year. He should be welcomed warmly—and will be very motivated to play well given the front office didn’t deem him worthy to be a franchise cornerstone.

Feb. 28—Nuggets @ Spurs: Joker vs. The Alien

We didn't get Nikola Jokić vs. Wemby in the postseason after the Timberwolves took care of the Nuggets in six games in round one. Denver won its regular-season series with San Antonio last year 3–1, but Wembanyama was only available for one of those games: A 136–134 Nuggets win in overtime behind 40 points from Jokić in an absolute battle that had a playoff-type atmosphere in early April. Wemby had a monster game with 34 points, 18 rebounds, seven assists and five blocks, but the Nuggets held on thanks to a late flurry from their three-time MVP. The one matchup between the two star big men last season lived up to the hype. We just need more where that came from.

TBD Date in February or March—TBD @ Warriors: Jimmy Butler makes season debut

We’ll keep a placeholder here because specific timing around Butler’s return from a torn ACL he suffered late January. The Warriors had an underwhelming offseason as the franchise missed out on the Giannis and the LeBron sweepstakes. Unless Golden State makes a surprise move, its essentially running back the same, disappointing roster from last season. With Steph Curry running the show, though, anything is possible. Should the Warriors remain afloat to start the year, Butler’s return will bring a massive spark—emotionally as well as on the court. Plus, it will just be great to see Jimmy Butler play basketball again.

Feb. 27—Wizards @ Jazz: Rookie showdown

The Wizards selected AJ Dybantsa with the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA draft. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Dybantsa, the top pick in the draft, and No. 2 pick Darryn Peterson will only meet twice, but Peterson certainly has the Wizards’ matchups circled on his calendar. Washington is the only team that passed on Peterson in the draft, so he will have a chip on his shoulder to prove that he’s the top player in his draft class. Dybantsa and Peterson met in Summer League where the top pick made a statement with 27 points and the win. It’s different when the games count, though, as the two heralded prospects will battle to draw first blood with their names intertwined for the rest of their respective careers.

Feb. 28—Lakers @ Mavericks: Mavs fans welcome Luka back (once again)

For the rest of Dončić’s career, each time he returns to Dallas will be one big “what if?” The Mavericks and the Lakers look drastically different since the two teams made the most shocking trade in NBA history at the 2025 deadline. James is out of L.A. as the Lakers retooled the roster this offseason with the big trade for Walker Kessler, plus the signings of Sandro Mamukelashvili, Quentin Grimes and Collin Sexton. Meanwhile, Anthony Davis is out of Dallas after he had a short-lived Mavs stint as the centerpiece of the Dončić trade. Mavs fans will always welcome Luka back with open arms, but the first trip back this season marks a continued changing of the guard for the two franchises.

March 11—Wizards @ Mavericks: No. 1 pick clash

It’s a bummer that Cooper Flagg won’t get a Christmas game, but this could be the last year we don’t see the young star on the holiday for a long time. As a consolation, we’ll circle the 2025 top pick’s first game against this year’s No. 1 pick in Washington’s AJ Dybantsa. Neither Dallas or Washington have title aspirations this season, but two of the league’s freshest faces against one another is a can’t miss affair.

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