2025-26 NBA Schedule

Q: How many games will each NBA team play this year?

Each team plays an 82-game regular season, a format in place since 1967-68. The only exceptions have been the lockout-shortened seasons of 1998-99 (50 games) and 2011-12 (66 games), and the COVID-19-impacted seasons of 2019-20 and 2020-21.

Q: How many divisional games does each team play?

The NBA has six divisions of five teams. Each team plays four games against each division opponent — two home, two away — totaling 16 divisional games, which make up nearly 20% of a team's schedule.

Q: How many conference games does each team play?

Each team plays 52 conference games per season — 16 divisional and 36 against the other 10 conference teams, with the split of four-game and three-game series rotating on a five-year cycle.

Q: How long does the regular season last?

The NBA regular season typically runs from late October through mid-April, with each team playing 82 games before the playoffs begin. The league spread the schedule out several years ago to reduce back-to-back games, improving player availability and game quality.

Q: When do the playoffs typically begin?

The NBA Playoffs typically tip off in mid-April and run through mid-June, making it the longest postseason of any major North American sport. All four rounds are best-of-seven series, with rest days built in throughout. The NBA Finals are scheduled to start on a fixed date, which can mean a brief wait for the team that advances first from the Conference Finals.

Bookies.com Updated: Mar 5th, 2026

The NBA and NBA betting continues to grow in worldwide popularity, and that means more options to watch its regular season and postseason product. Whether that’s local broadcasts, national broadcasts, live streaming, or applications like NBA League Pass, there are myriad options to consume and wager on games.

Selected Week: October 5th 2026 - October 8th 2026

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Today

Detroit Pistons

Phoenix Suns

07:00PM

Atlanta Hawks

Memphis Grizzlies

07:00PM

Philadelphia 76ers

New York Knicks

07:00PM

Today

Milwaukee Bucks

Minnesota Timberwolves

08:00PM

Los Angeles Lakers

Sacramento Kings

10:00PM

Charlotte Hornets

Brooklyn Nets

07:00PM

Tomorrow

Oklahoma City Thunder

New Orleans Pelicans

08:00PM

Utah Jazz

Denver Nuggets

09:00PM

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NBA TV Schedule

It doesn't matter if it's a marquee Eastern Conference rivalry on a Monday night in November or a Western Conference showdown on a Friday night in March — if you want to watch a game, you can find it.

All 30 teams have local regional sports networks that air the majority of their games. RSNs vary by market but include networks on NBC Sports, MSG, Spectrum Sports, and Sportsnet/TSN in Canada.

ESPN/ABC, TNT, and NBA TV are the three main national broadcast partners. TNT airs national games every Thursday throughout the regular season, as well as marquee holiday matchups on Christmas Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day. ESPN broadcasts national games on Wednesdays and Fridays, with additional Saturday night and Sunday afternoon games added later in the season. NBA TV supplements the national schedule throughout the week, often simulcasting local broadcasts.

The first two rounds of the NBA Playoffs are split across ESPN and TNT. ESPN and TNT share the Conference Finals, and the NBA Finals air exclusively on ABC.

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Why the NBA Schedule Matters

Not all NBA schedules are created equally. Unlike other major sports with more uniform scheduling structures, the NBA calendar is packed with intricacies that bettors need to account for when placing wagers.

Player Rest

Because NBA teams play between three and five games per week, rest is one of the most important scheduling factors to monitor. Load management has become standard practice across the league — stars regularly sit out back-to-backs or the tail end of long road trips to preserve their health for the postseason. Always check where a team is in their schedule and whether key players are listed on an injury report before placing a bet.

Travel

Every NBA team plays all 29 opponents on the road over the course of an 82-game season. Some teams go on extended road trips due to events at their home venue — San Antonio's annual rodeo trip is the most well-known example — and West Coast swings are a common challenge for Eastern Conference teams.

The difference between a team playing the first game of a five-game West Coast road trip versus the fifth is significant. Fatigue, time zone adjustment, and cumulative travel all affect performance in ways that don't always show up in the betting line.

How the NBA Creates its Schedule

The creation of the NBA schedule is rather straightforward. For an 82-game season, the breakdown is as follows:

Each team plays four games against the other four division opponents, totaling 16 games.

Of the remaining 10 teams in the conference, each team will play four games against six of them and three games against the other four, totaling 36 games. There is a five-year rotation that determines which non-division teams are played just three times.

To finish off the schedule, each team plays two games (one home, one away) against each of the 15 teams in the opposing conference, totaling 30 games.

NBA Schedule FAQs

When is the NBA schedule released each year?

The NBA schedule is typically released in early August, after the late June draft and July free agency period have concluded. This timing gives teams a complete roster picture before scheduling is finalized.

How many games will each NBA team play this year?

How many divisional games does each team play?

How many conference games does each team play?

How long does the regular season last?

When do the playoffs typically begin?

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