The NBA unveiled an expanded, three-game Opening Day slate on Tuesday, plus a Christmas schedule highlighted by a Finals rematch and LeBron James’ return to LA.
NBCUniversal will carry a tripleheader on NBA Opening Day October 20, marking the first time outside of 2011 — when the lockout-delayed season began with the league’s traditional Christmas Day slate — that the season has opened with three nationally televised games. The season opens in Detroit with a Celtics-Pistons matinee at 3 PM ET, followed by LeBron James’ 76ers debut against the defending champion Knicks at 7 PM and a Thunder-Spurs Western Conference Finals rematch at 9:30.
The NBA joins the NHL in scheduling an Opening Day tripleheader. Both Major League Baseball and the NFL open their seasons with a single standalone game, though MLB still has its traditional “Opening Day” the day after. (NBC carried a doubleheader, including a matinee between the Pirates and Mets, on baseball’s traditional Opening Day in March.)
Following Opening Day, ESPN on October 21 will have a doubleheader of Timberwolves-Heat and Warriors-Lakers. The network has James’ first Sixers home game the following night as Philadelphia faces his former team in Cleveland. That is followed by Nuggets-Thunder in the nightcap.
The league also announced its Christmas Day slate Tuesday, which this season will open with a Spurs-Knicks NBA Finals rematch at Noon ET. The game will have a full hour to itself before the NFL competition begins with Packers-Bears on Netflix.
Since the NFL expanded its Christmas schedule to a full tripleheader, prompting the NBA to begin simulcasting all five of its games on ABC, the Noon ET window has emerged as one of the most-watched of the holiday. Last year, the Noon ET Cavaliers-Knicks game finished second in viewership out of the five on the holiday — and ultimately second for the entire regular season — behind only the Spurs-Thunder game that immediately followed.
Heat-Celtics follows this year at 2:30 PM ET, leading into the potential highlight of the day as the Lakers host the Sixers in what would be James’ first game back in Los Angeles as an opponent. The latter game will compete with Bills-Broncos on Netflix.
Thunder-Timberwolves gets the primetime 8 PM ET slot opposite a Rams-Seahawks NFC Championship rematch on FOX, the first NFL Christmas game on broadcast television in three years. For the first time since they rose to championship contention more than a decade ago, the Warriors are slated for the late night window as they host the Nuggets at 10:30 PM ET.
As has been the case in recent years, all five Christmas games will be simulcast on both ABC and ESPN.
