Trending 
Reigning NBA champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder, will host the Houston Rockets on October 21 to kick off the league’s 80th season, as announced by NBA officials on Tuesday.
Before the game, the Thunder will unveil their championship banner, and reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will lead his team against the Rockets, who Kevin Durant now leads.
This matchup is one of two games scheduled for opening night of the 2025-26 season, with the second game featuring the Golden State Warriors facing off against the Los Angeles Lakers. This will mark the 57th meeting between Warriors star guard Stephen Curry and Lakers star LeBron James, both of whom have won four NBA championships.
At 40 years old, James will make history by participating in his 23rd NBA season, while his teammate Luka Doncic is set to make his debut in a season opener as a Laker.
Durant, a two-time NBA champion and 2014 NBA MVP, was traded from Phoenix to Houston last month in a record-breaking seven-team deal.
The league also shared details on additional game dates, including the Christmas schedule, just before the full NBA schedule for the 2025-26 season is released on Thursday.
The lineup for December 25 will feature five NBA games, starting with a matchup between Cleveland and New York, where the Knicks will be making their record 57th Christmas appearance.
Oklahoma City will host San Antonio in their first Christmas game since 2018, followed by a contest between Dallas and Golden State, where Klay Thompson will return to San Francisco with the Mavericks. The schedule also includes Houston at the Lakers and Minnesota at Denver.
On October 22, the Cleveland Cavaliers will travel to New York, while the San Antonio Spurs will kick off their season in Dallas. This will mark the NBA debuts for top draft pick Cooper Flagg from Dallas and second overall pick Dylan Harper from the Spurs, who also welcome back French sensation Victor Wembanyama after he dealt with deep vein thrombosis in his shoulder at the end of last season.
The next night will see Oklahoma City face Indiana in a rematch of last season’s NBA Finals, followed by Denver visiting Golden State, where three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic of the Nuggets will go head-to-head with two-time MVP Curry.
October 27 will feature Cleveland at Detroit and Denver at Minnesota.
On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, January 19, games will include Milwaukee visiting Atlanta, Oklahoma City playing at Cleveland, Dallas going to New York, and Boston facing Detroit.
