The first five days of the 2024-25 NBA regular season (Oct. 22-26) will feature 11 national television games as part of Kia NBA Tip-Off 2024, with two doubleheaders each on TNT and ESPN and a tripleheader on NBA TV.
SAVE THE DATE! 📅
The 2024-25 regular season tips off on Tuesday, October 22. #KiaTipOff24
Check out the National TV Schedule for opening week 👀🍿 pic.twitter.com/sBhHJiECq6
— NBA (@NBA) August 15, 2024
The regular season will begin on Tuesday, Oct. 22 with a doubleheader on TNT. In the first game, the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics will receive their championship rings and unveil their record 18th championship banner before hosting the New York Knicks in a matchup of last season’s top two playoff seeds in the Eastern Conference (7:30 p.m. ET). In the second game, the Minnesota Timberwolves – coming off the second-best regular season in franchise history and their first Western Conference Finals appearance in 20 years – will visit the Los Angeles Lakers as NBA all-time scoring leader LeBron James of the Lakers starts his record-tying 22nd NBA regular season (10 p.m. ET).
ESPN’s doubleheader on Wednesday, Oct. 23 will tip off with nine-time NBA All-Star Paul George making his regular-season debut with the Philadelphia 76ers as they host the Milwaukee Bucks, who defeated Philadelphia 118-117 in the 2023-24 regular-season opener for both teams (7:30 p.m. ET). Then, the LA Clippers will play their first regular-season game at their new home arena, Intuit Dome, when they take on the Phoenix Suns (10 p.m. ET).
In TNT’s doubleheader on Thursday, Oct. 24, the defending Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks will open with a home game against the San Antonio Spurs as five-time NBA All-Star Klay Thompson plays his first regular-season game with the Mavericks and 12-time NBA All-Star Chris Paul begins his 20th NBA season and makes his regular-season debut with the Spurs (7:30 p.m. ET). Next, last season’s top two playoff seeds in the Western Conference and top two players in the Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award voting will square off when reigning MVP Nikola Jokić and the Denver Nuggets host 2023-24 MVP runner-up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder (10 p.m. ET).
On Friday, Oct. 25, ESPN’s second doubleheader of Kia NBA Tip-Off 2024 will have a rematch of last season’s seven-game Eastern Conference Semifinals series between the Knicks and Indiana Pacers in New York (7:30 p.m. ET), followed by the Suns visiting the Lakers (10 p.m. ET).
NBA TV will begin its live game coverage of the new season with three games on Saturday, Oct. 26: Clippers at Nuggets (5 p.m. ET), Orlando Magic at Memphis Grizzlies (8 p.m. ET) and Sacramento Kings at Lakers (10:30 p.m. ET).
