Thunder-rockets, Lakers-warriors Headline 'nba Tip-off' On Nbc

Reigning NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and nan defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder will return connected Kevin Durant and nan Houston Rockets connected NBC to extremity disconnected nan NBA play connected Oct. 21, NBC Sports and nan NBA announced Tuesday.

The matchup betwixt nan Thunder and Rockets will beryllium followed up by nan latest section successful nan rivalry betwixt LeBron James and Stephen Curry, arsenic nan Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors besides look disconnected connected opening night.

The 2 games will not only people nan opening of a caller season, they will besides beryllium nan first NBA games to aerial connected NBC since nan 2002 finals.

Mike Tirico, Reggie Miller, Jamal Crawford and Zora Stephenson will telephone nan crippled betwixt Oklahoma City and Houston, which tips disconnected astatine 7:30 p.m. ET.

Noah Eagle, Grant Hill and Ashley ShahAhmadi will telephone nan 2nd crippled from Los Angeles, which, successful summation to James and Curry, will characteristic Luka Doncic and Jimmy Butler.

The play will statesman pinch a matchup of teams expected to beryllium 2 of nan champion successful nan West.

The Thunder, who person vanished first successful nan convention successful back-to-back seasons, are returning nan mostly of nan squad that won nan 2025 finals successful 7 games. The Rockets, meanwhile, added a early Hall of Famer successful Durant to a young halfway that includes halfway Alperen Sengun and wingman Amen Thompson.

The nightcap will characteristic foes-turned-friends successful James and Curry, who played each different successful 4 consecutive title bid from 2015 to 2018, past teamed up astatine nan Paris Olympics successful 2024 to seizure golden for nan United States. Doncic and Butler will beryllium joining nan fray, arsenic some will beryllium starting their first afloat seasons pinch their respective teams.

Shortly aft nan "NBA Tip-Off" games, "Peacock NBA Monday" will debut connected Oct. 27 pinch its ain doubleheader starting astatine 7 p.m. ET. The first crippled that nighttime will characteristic nan Cleveland Cavaliers and nan Detroit Pistons, while Western Conference rivals nan Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets will conflict after.

NBC Sports and nan NBA besides announced nan first-ever Martin Luther King Jr. Day quadrupleheader, which will return spot connected Jan. 19, 2026, crossed NBC and Peacock.