On Tuesday, ESPN broke down the games it will broadcast for Opening Week Presented by State Farm.
It all starts on Oct. 23, when Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers kick off Year 2 of the Kenny Atkinson era with a showdown against the New York Knicks in Gotham. The Cavs ruled the East in the 2024-25 NBA regular season, winning 64 games, but underwhelmed in the 2025 NBA Playoffs, where they got knocked out in the second round by Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers. The Knicks, on the other hand, will look to usher in the franchise’s Mike Brown phase with a statement victory right out of the gate.
On the same day, the highly anticipated NBA regular-season debut of 2025 NBA draft top pick Cooper Flagg will be witnessed by basketball fans, as the Dallas Mavericks take on Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs in Dallas. Those are two first overall picks going head to head, but another matchup people are interested in seeing is the one between Flagg and the No. 2 pick of this year’s draft, Dylan Harper. It will also just be the first time that the No. 1 and No. 2 picks of the same draft class will make their debut facing each other since 2015.
The following day, the reigning NBA champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder, will get the chance to further their mastery of the team they conquered in the 2025 NBA Finals, with the Indiana Pacers hosting Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Bolts. It will be a much different Pacers team, though, than the one OKC survived in seven games in the NBA Finals, with Haliburton out for the entire 2025-26 season and Myles Turner now with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Lastly, the retooled Denver Nuggets will share the floor at Chase Center in San Francisco with the Golden State Warriors, as Stephen Curry starts his 17th season in the league.
The 2025-26 NBA season is still months away, but the hype for the new campaign has already started, particularly following ESPN’s announcement of the four games it will cover on opening week.
On Tuesday, ESPN broke down the games it will broadcast for Opening Week Presented by State Farm.
It all starts on Oct. 23, when Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers kick off Year 2 of the Kenny Atkinson era with a showdown against the New York Knicks in Gotham. The Cavs ruled the East in the 2024-25 NBA regular season, winning 64 games, but underwhelmed in the 2025 NBA Playoffs, where they got knocked out in the second round by Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers. The Knicks, on the other hand, will look to usher in the franchise’s Mike Brown phase with a statement victory right out of the gate.
On the same day, the highly anticipated NBA regular-season debut of 2025 NBA draft top pick Cooper Flagg will be witnessed by basketball fans, as the Dallas Mavericks take on Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs in Dallas. Those are two first overall picks going head to head, but another matchup people are interested in seeing is the one between Flagg and the No. 2 pick of this year’s draft, Dylan Harper. It will also just be the first time that the No. 1 and No. 2 picks of the same draft class will make their debut facing each other since 2015.
The following day, the reigning NBA champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder, will get the chance to further their mastery of the team they conquered in the 2025 NBA Finals, with the Indiana Pacers hosting Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Bolts. It will be a much different Pacers team, though, than the one OKC survived in seven games in the NBA Finals, with Haliburton out for the entire 2025-26 season and Myles Turner now with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Lastly, the retooled Denver Nuggets will share the floor at Chase Center in San Francisco with the Golden State Warriors, as Stephen Curry starts his 17th season in the league.
