The 2026-27 NBA calendar: camps open Sept. 22 for teams playing preseason games outside North America and Sept. 29 for the rest, preseason tips Oct. 3, opening night is Oct. 20

The NBA's 2026-27 season arrives in stages. Teams playing preseason games outside North America open training camp on Sept. 22; the rest of the league opens camp on Sept. 29. Preseason games begin Oct. 3, and rosters must be set for opening day by 5 p.m. ET on Oct. 19. [S1]

The preseason includes two international series. The NBA Canada Games send the Toronto Raptors to Quebec City's Videotron Centre against the Miami Heat on Oct. 3 and to Vancouver's Rogers Arena against the LA Clippers on Oct. 10. The NBA China Games put the Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets at The Venetian Arena in Macao on Oct. 9 and Oct. 11. [S1]

The regular season starts Tuesday, Oct. 20, with a tripleheader on NBC and Peacock. The Boston Celtics visit the Detroit Pistons at 2 p.m. CT (3 p.m. ET), a matchup the league notes pairs the two best records in the Eastern Conference from 2025-26. The defending champion New York Knicks raise their banner and host the Philadelphia 76ers at 6 p.m. CT (7 p.m. ET), a game the league bills as the Philadelphia debuts of LeBron James and Jaylen Brown. The San Antonio Spurs then host the Oklahoma City Thunder at 8:30 p.m. CT (9:30 p.m. ET) in a rematch of the 2026 Western Conference Finals. [S2]

Opening week continues on ESPN. On Oct. 21, Giannis Antetokounmpo makes his Miami Heat debut against the Minnesota Timberwolves in LaMelo Ball's first game with Minnesota, followed by Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors at Luka Dončić and the Los Angeles Lakers. On Oct. 22, James makes his Philadelphia home debut against Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's Thunder host Nikola Jokić and the Denver Nuggets. [S2]

The schedule is not quite complete by design. Each team has defined dates and opponents for 80 of its 82 games; the remaining two, played between Dec. 4 and Dec. 10, depend on results from Group Play in the Emirates NBA Cup. Group Play runs on "Cup Nights" every Friday from Oct. 30 through Nov. 27, plus Tuesday, Nov. 24 and Wednesday, Nov. 25. The Knockout Rounds follow on Prime Video: quarterfinals Dec. 4-5, semifinals Dec. 8 and/or Dec. 9, and the championship on Dec. 11. [S2]

The Cup final will be played at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The league also has a Mexico City game between the Nuggets and Indiana Pacers on Nov. 7, and a two-game European trip in January that sends the Spurs and New Orleans Pelicans to Paris on Jan. 14 and Manchester on Jan. 17. [S1]

Christmas Day carries five games, opening with a 2026 Finals rematch between the Knicks and Spurs at Madison Square Garden at 11 a.m. CT (noon ET), then Heat at Celtics, 76ers at Lakers in James' return to Los Angeles, Thunder at Timberwolves in Minnesota's first Christmas home game, and Nuggets at Warriors. [S2]

The back half of the calendar: the trade deadline is Feb. 11; All-Star 2027 is in Phoenix on Feb. 19-21; the regular season ends Sunday, April 11, 2027, with all 30 teams playing; playoff rosters are set April 12; and the SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament runs April 13-16. [S1]

What the schedule does not tell you is who will be good. Every matchup above is a date on a calendar, not a forecast, and BetMetrics will not have a model view on any of these games until real, timestamped outputs exist for them. [S2]