NBA Announces Schedule for 75th Anniversary Season

2021-22 Regular Season to Tip Off on Oct. 19, 2021, and Conclude on April 10, 2022; NBA 75 Classic Matchups to Highlight Milestone Moments Throughout Season

NEW YORK, United States of America, August 21, 2021/ — The NBA yesterday released the complete game schedule and broadcast schedules for TNT, ESPN, ABC, NBA TV and ESPN Radio for its landmark 75^th Anniversary Season.

The complete regular-season schedule and team-by-team schedules are attached and available at NBA.com/schedule). The 2021-22 regular season, which comprises 82 games per team, will tip off on Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021, and conclude on Sunday, April 10, 2022.

Throughout the season, the league will feature NBA 75 Classic Matchups to celebrate the teams, players, coaches and moments that have defined 75 years of NBA basketball. Below are some of the Classic Matchups that will be highlighted during the season:

• NBA TV will present a matchup between the New York Knicks and Toronto Raptors on Monday, Nov. 1 (7:30 p.m. ET), marking the 75^th anniversary of the league’s first regular-season game, which was played between the Knicks and Toronto Huskies on Nov. 1, 1946.
• The three franchises that have played in every NBA season – the Knicks, Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors (who began as the Philadelphia Warriors) – will face each other across three nationally televised games during a five-day stretch in December: Warriors at Knicks on Tuesday, Dec. 14 (7:30 p.m. ET, TNT); Warriors at Celtics on Friday, Dec. 17 (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN); and Knicks at Celtics on Saturday, Dec. 18 (8:30 p.m. ET, NBA TV).
• On Friday, Jan. 7, the Los Angeles Lakers will host the Atlanta Hawks on ESPN (10 p.m. ET). The matchup will take place 50 years to the day (Jan. 7, 1972) that the Lakers defeated Atlanta for their 33^rd straight victory, which remains the longest winning streak in NBA history.

The NBA previously announced its national television schedule for the first four days of the season and Christmas Day. Kia NBA Tip-Off 2021 will begin on Tuesday, Oct. 19 with a TNT doubleheader as the defending NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks host the Brooklyn Nets (7:30 p.m. ET) and the Warriors visit the Lakers (10 p.m. ET). On Wednesday, Oct. 20, the Knicks will host the Celtics (7:30 p.m. ET) and the Denver Nuggets will visit the Phoenix Suns (10 p.m. ET) in an ESPN doubleheader. TNT will have a doubleheader on Thursday, Oct. 21 (Dallas Mavericks at Hawks, 7:30 p.m. ET; LA Clippers at Warriors, 10 p.m. ET), and ESPN will have a doubleheader on Friday, Oct. 22 (Nets at Philadelphia 76ers, 7:30 p.m. ET; Suns at Lakers, 10 p.m. ET).

Christmas Day will feature five games across ESPN and ABC on Saturday, Dec. 25: Hawks at Knicks (12 p.m. ET, ESPN); Celtics at Bucks (2:30 p.m. ET, ABC); Warriors at Suns (5 p.m. ET, ABC); Nets at Lakers (8 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN); and Mavericks at Utah Jazz (10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).

Below are additional highlights of the national broadcast schedule for the 75^th Anniversary Season:

• TNT will air 18 Tuesday doubleheaders and 12 Thursday doubleheaders in the 2021-22 season, while ESPN will televise 21 Wednesday doubleheaders and 13 Friday doubleheaders.  Every doubleheader across both networks on those four nights will begin at 7:30 p.m. ET/10 p.m. ET.
• NBA TV will tip off its live game coverage for the 2021-22 season on Saturday, Oct. 23 with a doubleheader as the Indiana Pacers host the Miami Heat (7 p.m. ET) and the Suns visit the Portland Trail Blazers (10 p.m. ET).
• NBA TV’s Center Court franchise will make its season debut on Monday, Oct. 25 with the Washington Wizards visiting the Nets (7:30 p.m. ET) and continue the following week with the NBA 75 Classic Matchup between the Knicks and Raptors. Center Court, which includes 20 games throughout the season, incorporates enhanced viewing options such as unique camera angles, next-gen analytics and social media integrations into the originally produced telecast.
• The top two overall picks in the NBA Draft 2021 presented by State Farm, the Detroit Pistons’ Cade Cunningham (No. 1) and the Houston Rockets’ Jalen Green (No. 2), are scheduled to meet in the regular season for the first time when Detroit visits Houston on Wednesday, Nov. 10 on ESPN (7:30 p.m. ET).
• A TNT doubleheader will highlight the Martin Luther King Jr. Day schedule on Monday, Jan. 17. First, the Memphis Grizzlies will host the Chicago Bulls (3:30 p.m. ET) in Memphis’ 20^th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration Game. In the second game, the Bucks will face the Hawks in Atlanta (6 p.m. ET) in a rematch of the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals. The national television schedule for Martin Luther King Jr. Day will also include a matchup between the Jazz and Lakers in Los Angeles on NBA TV (10:30 p.m. ET).
• The seventh season of NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC will premiere on Saturday, Dec. 11 when the Warriors visit the 76ers (8:30 p.m. ET). The Primetime series will have a game each Saturday from Jan. 29 – March 12 except Feb. 19 during the All-Star break.
• Six-time NBA All-Star Kyle Lowry of Miami, who played the previous nine seasons with the Raptors and helped the franchise win the NBA championship in the 2018-19 season, leads the Heat in a road game against Toronto on Thursday, Feb. 3 on TNT (7:30 p.m. ET). The matchup is the first of the Heat’s two road games against the Raptors this season.
• The ABC Sunday Showcase series will return on Sunday, Feb. 13 when the Hawks visit the Celtics (2 p.m. ET). ABC will air Sunday Showcase doubleheaders at 1 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. ET on Feb. 27, March 6, March 13 and April 3.
• TNT will broadcast the first matchup between the Bucks and Suns since the NBA Finals 2021 presented by YouTube TV when the teams meet on Thursday, Feb. 10 in Phoenix (10 p.m. ET). In the second meeting, Milwaukee will host Phoenix on Sunday, March 6 on ABC (3:30 p.m. ET).
• ESPN and TNT will both televise doubleheaders on the final day of the regular season, Sunday, April 10. The matchups for ESPN (1 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. ET) and TNT (7:30 p.m. ET/10 p.m. ET) will be determined at a later date.
• The NBA on TNT, ESPN, ABC and NBA TV will present flexible scheduling throughout the regular season to provide the most compelling matchups to a national audience.
• ESPN Radio will broadcast 24 games in the regular season, including Nets-Bucks on opening night and Warriors-Suns and Nets-Lakers on Christmas Day. It will also provide coverage from NBA All-Star 2022 in Cleveland and air the NBA Finals 2022 presented by YouTube TV.

The 2022 NBA Play-In Tournament will take place April 12-15 (Tuesday – Friday), followed by the start of the 2022 NBA Playoffs on Saturday, April 16. TNT will present the 2022 Western Conference Finals and ESPN/ABC will present the 2022 Eastern Conference Finals. ABC will televise the NBA Finals 2022 presented by YouTube TV, marking its 20^th consecutive season as the exclusive home of the league’s championship series. Game 1 of the NBA Finals is scheduled to be played on Thursday, June 2.

NBA League Pass will offer live, out-of-market games all season through the NBA App, NBA.com, connected televisions and TV providers. Fans can unlock direct access to stream matchups featuring their favorite teams and players with NBA League Pass (blackout restrictions apply).

For the 2021-22 season, 46 weekend games will air in primetime in Europe, the Middle East and Africa as part of the league’s “NBA Saturdays and NBA Sundays presented by NBA 2K22” primetime initiative.