The NBA has released its national TV schedule for the first three days of the season. Fans will get to see the league’s marquee stars, rivalries, rematches, and rising stars.
What We Know:
- Opening night will kick off on Tuesday, December 22, with a double-header. The Golden State Warriors will play the Brooklyn Nets, and the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers will play the Los Angeles Clippers.
- The Warriors-Nets game will be the league’s first look at Brooklyn’s dynamic duo of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Both stars signed with the team in 2019, but Durant missed the whole season with an Achilles injury, and Kyrie Irving missed most of the season. The Warriors will also have a new look as their star Stephen Curry will be returning from his season-ending hand injury. This will also be the first time Kevin Durant plays the Warriors after leaving them in free agency last year.
- For much of the 2019-2020 season, there was fierce debate over who was the king of LA. The Lakers and Clipper split their regular-season matchups, and everyone was waiting for a LeBron James-Kawhi Leonard matchup in the playoffs. It never happened as the Clippers flamed out in the second round, and the Lakers cruised to their 17th championship. Perhaps their opening night matchup will renew that debate.
- Christmas Day has always been the NBA’s holiday. The NFL can have Thanksgiving, but Christmas Day will always be full of basketball. This year, it was jeopardized with the quick turnaround from the bubble to the 2020-2021 season, but the NBA is giving fans five games starting at 12 ET.
- The day will kick off with the New Orleans Pelicans playing the defending Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat. Following that, the Warriors will play reigning MVP and Defensive Player of the Year Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks. The Nets will play the Boston Celtics. Heading to the Western Conference, the Dallas Mavericks will play the Lakers, and the night will end with the Clippers playing the Denver Nuggets.
- Christmas Day has always been a great way for the NBA to increase visibility for the league’s stars, and this year, fans will get to see LeBron, Steph, Giannis, Kevin Durant, and some of the biggest faces of the league. We’re also getting an anticipated Western Conference Finals rematch between the Clippers and Nuggets.
The NBA is also putting some of its youngest stars in the spotlight, with the Pelicans’ Zion Williamson and the Mavericks’ Luka Doncic taking center stage on Christmas.
