The second season of the NBA on NBC’s third iteration gets underway with a star-spangled tripleheader on Oct. 20.
The NBA on NBC is undeniably on a break but it’ll return with a vengeance on Oct. 20.
Thursday’s release of the 2026-27 NBA schedule saw over 100 games added to the peacock-branded airwaves and streaming realms. The slate tips off with a star-studded tripleheader on Oct. 20, headlined by the New York Knicks tipping off their championship defense against the new-look Philadelphia 76ers.
NBC will carry the opening games of the season, which will engage in the unusual route of tipping things off on a weekday afternoon: before the Knicks receive their championship rings, the Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons will do battle in the Motor City at 3 p.m. ET. The opening night triple feature ends with a Western Conference Finals rematch between the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs.
From there, NBC will be primarily stationed on Monday and Tuesday nights, with the former dedicated to games that will exclusively appear on streaming Peacock. The latter brings back “Coast 2 Coast Tuesdays,” which will feature a coastal doubleheader that will often engage in regional availability. Both sides of the “Coast 2 Coast Tuesday” doubleheaders will be available to stream on Peacock. Games on Peacock can also be seen on NBC Sports Network where available.
Sunday Night Basketball Returns on NBC
Once NBC wraps its “Sunday Night Football” coverage, the hardwood addition will return with marquee matchups to close out winter weekends. “Sunday Night Basketball” returns on Jan. 24 when the aforementioned Thunder visits the Golden State Warriors.
NBC will also feature quartets on two post-Christmas holidays: Martin Luther King Jr. Day features four, with the top draw likely being the Knicks hosting the Minnesota Timberwolves. Four weeks later, another four-game slate appears on Presidents’ Day, which will feature the aforementioned 76ers taking on the Dallas Mavericks. In both cases, the first three games of the quartet will appear on NBC while the fourth will be streamed exclusively on Peacock (which will also stream the first three games).
In addition to the regular season showcases, NBC also retains rights to most of the NBA All-Star activities on Feb. 19-21. Peacock will stream the Rising Stars game to tip things off while NBC will get All-Star Saturday and the main event thereafter. NBC will also carry first- and second-round playoff coverage come spring.
This is the second season of NBC’s third iteration of NBA coverage, with last year’s return to the hardwood earning positive reviews. The network, whose coverage of turn-of-the-century basketball became well known to the current generation of NBA stars, announced that last year’s NBC/Peacock package averaged a Total Audience Delivery of 2.8 million viewers in its return, an improvement of 109% against comparable coverage the previous year.
“Our 2026-27 schedule not only features elite matchups on the biggest stages possible, but new programming innovations designed to build off last year’s resounding successes,” NBC Sports executive vice president of programming and rights management Justin Byczek said in a statement. “With the inaugural Presidents’ Day quadrupleheader, an enhanced collection of holiday games, and seven Sunday Night Basketball doubleheaders, we’ve designed our schedule to give even more NBA matchups the maximum exposure that only NBC Sports can provide.”
NBC retains all of its star-spangled talent from last year, with Mike Tirico serving as lead play-by-play man for the biggest games alongside Jamal Crawford and Reggie Miller.
View the full NBC/Peacock schedule below …
(All Times ET)
(Matchups subject to change)
(Peacock exclusive games in italics)
October
Tuesday, October 20
- Boston at Detroit, 3 p.m.
- Philadelphia at New York, 7 p.m.
- Oklahoma City at San Antonio, 9:30 p.m.
Monday, October 26
- Golden State at Denver, 10 p.m.
Tuesday, October 27
- Detroit at New York, 8 p.m.
- Portland at LA Lakers, 11 p.m.
November
Monday, November 2
- Oklahoma City at Cleveland, 7 p.m.
Monday, November 9
- Washington at Detroit, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, November 10
- Boston at Philadelphia, 8 p.m.
- Oklahoma City at Portland, 11 p.m.
Monday, November 16
- Orlando at Boston, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, November 17
- Detroit at San Antonio, 8 p.m.
- Utah at LA Clippers, 11 p.m.
Monday, November 23
- Brooklyn at Minnesota, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, November 24
- Boston at Washington, 8 p.m.
- Dallas at Denver, 10 p.m.
Monday, November 30
- Houston at LA Lakers, 7:30 p.m.
December
Tuesday, December 1
- New York at Chicago, 8 p.m.
- Utah at Golden State, 11 p.m.
Monday, December 7 (NBA Cup Consolation Game)
TBD
Monday, December 14
- Philadelphia at Orlando, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, December 15
- San Antonio at Cleveland, 8 p.m.
- Denver at Portland, 11 p.m.
Monday, December 21
- New York at Cleveland, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, December 22
- Detroit at Oklahoma City, 8 p.m.
- Dallas at Golden State, 10:30 p.m.
Monday, December 28
- Cleveland at Boston, 8 p.m.
- Minnesota at Denver, 10:30 p.m.
Tuesday, December 29
- Miami at Dallas, 8 p.m.
- Houston at LA Lakers, 10:30 p.m.
January
Monday, January 4
- Chicago at Indiana, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, January 5
- Minnesota at Houston, 8 p.m.
- Phoenix at Denver, 10 p.m.
Monday, January 11
- Denver at New York, 7:30 p.m.
- LA Lakers at LA Clippers, 10 p.m.
Tuesday, January 12
- Washington at Philadelphia, 8 p.m.
- Sacramento at Golden State, 11 p.m.
Monday, January 18 (Martin Luther King Jr. Day)
- Detroit at Cleveland, 12 p.m.
- Philadelphia at Atlanta, 2:30 p.m.
- Minnesota at New York, 5 p.m.
- Houston at Memphis, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, January 19
- Charlotte at Dallas, 8 p.m.
- Utah at Denver, 10 p.m.
Sunday, January 24
- Oklahoma City at Golden State, 8:30 p.m.
Monday, January 25
- Toronto at Boston, 7 p.m.
- Sacramento at Denver, 9:30 p.m.
Tuesday, January 26
- Houston at San Antonio, 8 p.m.
- Oklahoma City at LA Lakers, 11 p.m.
Sunday, January 31
- Houston at Dallas, 8:30 p.m.
February
Monday, February 1
- Miami at Indiana, 7:30 p.m.
- San Antonio at Golden State, 10 p.m.
Tuesday, February 2
- LA Lakers at Boston, 8 p.m.
- Minnesota at Portland, 11 p.m.
Sunday, February 7
- Boston at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
- New York at Oklahoma City, 9:30 p.m.
Monday, February 8
- Miami at Atlanta, 7 p.m.
- LA Lakers at Phoenix, 9:30 p.m.
Tuesday, February 9
- San Antonio at Dallas, 8 p.m.
- Houston at Utah, 10 p.m.
Monday, February 15 (Presidents’ Day)
- Minnesota at Charlotte, 12 p.m.
- Philadelphia at Dallas, 2:30 p.m.
- San Antonio at Miami, 5 p.m.
- Indiana at Golden State, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, February 16
- Toronto at Atlanta, 8 p.m.
- Houston at LA Clippers, 11 p.m.
Sunday, February 28
- Boston at Minnesota, 7 p.m.
- Miami at Houston, 9:30 p.m.
March
Monday, March 1
- Philadelphia at Cleveland, 7 p.m.
- Washington at Phoenix, 9:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 2
- Minnesota at Oklahoma City, 8 p.m.
- LA Clippers at Portland, 11 p.m.
Sunday, March 7
- New York at San Antonio, 7:30 p.m.
- Houston at Golden State, 10 p.m.
Monday, March 8
- Charlotte at Indiana, 7 p.m.
- Dallas at Oklahoma City, 9:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 9
- Cleveland at Detroit, 8 p.m.
- Portland at Golden State, 11 p.m.
Sunday, March 14
- Miami at Denver, 7:30 p.m.
- Golden State at LA Lakers, 10 p.m.
Monday, March 15
- Toronto at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
- Atlanta at Dallas, 9:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 16
- Detroit at Indiana, 8 p.m.
- Denver at LA Clippers, 11 p.m.
Sunday, March 21
- San Antonio at Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m.
- Dallas at LA Lakers, 10 p.m.
Monday, March 22
- Indiana at Orlando, 7 p.m.
- Detroit at Minnesota, 9:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 23
- LA Lakers at Miami, 8 p.m.
- Oklahoma City at Phoenix, 11 p.m.
Sunday, March 28
- Oklahoma City at Minnesota, 7:30 p.m.
- Philadelphia at Denver, 10 p.m.
Monday, March 29
- Miami at Cleveland, 7 p.m.
- Phoenix at San Antonio, 9:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 30
- New York at Orlando, 8 p.m.
- Houston at Portland, 11 p.m.
April
Sunday, April 4
- Boston at New York, 7:30 p.m.
- San Antonio at LA Lakers, 10 p.m.
Monday, April 5
- Miami at Orlando, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, April 6
- New York at Atlanta, 8 p.m.
- Phoenix at Golden State, 11 p.m.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
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