What NBA TV’s 60-game schedule adds to the 2026-27 slate

NBA TV’s schedule adds 60 regular-season games

NBA TV will air 60 regular-season games during 2026-27, with the first broadcast scheduled for October 24. The network’s September 3 announcement said the schedule completed the national television slate after the league’s broader schedule release left NBA TV’s package for a later date. That makes this list a discrete part of the national schedule, with its own opening night and season-long selection.

The 60-game figure counts the games on NBA TV’s published regular-season calendar. It is not an audience number, a count of all games involving a team or a claim that the network carries the entire league season. A viewer can use the dated lineup to find NBA TV’s games, then check the league’s full national schedule for the matchups assigned to ABC/ESPN, NBC/Peacock and Prime Video.

The first broadcast is a two-game Saturday slate

The schedule opens with a doubleheader on Saturday, October 24. Philadelphia hosts Milwaukee at 7:30 p.m. Eastern, followed by Golden State at Phoenix at 10 p.m. The first game gives the network an Eastern-time early window; the Warriors-Suns game follows in the later slot. The two-game opening is the first sample of how NBA TV spreads its package across a single night.

That first night is useful for distinguishing the television schedule from the entire NBA schedule. Teams can play on the same date across different channels, and a game’s time and network belong to its individual listing. NBA TV’s release provides the two matchups and start times; the league’s daily schedule remains the place to check for any later adjustments or other games that night.

The opening week continues with a Minnesota home debut

On Sunday, October 25, NBA TV’s schedule lists LaMelo Ball’s home debut with the Minnesota Timberwolves against the Toronto Raptors at 7 p.m. Eastern. The release highlights the game as a notable early-season event, separate from the October 24 opening doubleheader. Both dates sit at the start of a season in which fans may be learning new teams, new roles and new broadcast destinations.

The week-one entries show why a schedule guide is more useful than a channel count alone. The 60-game total tells how many regular-season games NBA TV plans to show, while the first few entries tell viewers when a particular story becomes available on that network. The October 25 game also demonstrates that NBA TV’s calendar includes a Sunday slot, not only weekday or weekend doubleheaders.

The Mexico City Game anchors a November doubleheader

NBA TV’s November 7 schedule includes the NBA Mexico City Game between Denver and Indiana at 5 p.m. Eastern. The league’s announcement pairs it with a second game later that evening: New York at Cleveland at 8 p.m. The two broadcasts give the network a cross-border event followed by a rematch of the previous Eastern Conference Finals.

The Mexico City listing is one of the schedule’s clearest examples of how international games fit into a U.S. television lineup. The game is played outside a team’s regular home market, but its national broadcast remains on NBA TV. The evening’s second matchup stays in a regular NBA arena. The schedule puts those games on the same date while preserving their distinct event settings.

The holiday period brings a dense five-day run

NBA TV’s release highlights two games on New Year’s Eve: San Antonio at Charlotte at 1 p.m. Eastern and New York at Phoenix at 9 p.m. The network then has a 10-game stretch from December 30 through January 3. The run includes a January 2 tripleheader with the Knicks at Denver, Dallas at Atlanta and Boston at Portland.

A five-day sequence is different from a single holiday doubleheader. It gives the network repeated windows across several teams and time zones, including an afternoon start and late games. For a viewer tracking a team, the specific date and time matter more than the “10 games” summary; the slate can include many teams with only one appearance each.

The network completes a broader national schedule

The NBA’s main schedule release listed 80 regular-season games on ABC and ESPN, 100 across NBC, Peacock and NBCSN, and 66 on Prime Video. At that point, the league said the NBA TV schedule would come later. The September 3 announcement then said NBA TV would carry 60 games and completed the national television schedule. Each figure belongs to a published partner package.

These numbers should not be added casually to imply a count of unique games available to a viewer. Some matchups may also be carried by a local partner, and the NBA’s season guide separately describes League Pass availability. The practical use of the 60-game announcement is narrower: it fills in the NBA TV dates and helps viewers distinguish that channel’s schedule from the three larger media-partner lists.

The schedule announcement also includes studio programming

NBA TV’s live schedule is not the entire announcement. The league says the channel will return with a second season of The Association, a nightly program hosted by MJ Acosta-Ruiz with Chris Haynes and analysts Darren Collison, Rudy Gay and Robin Lopez among its contributors. The show is described as covering league news, analysis and storylines while guiding fans to games in real time.

The channel will also air Coaches Corner, where former NBA player and ESPN analyst Tim Legler speaks with head coaches about tactics and coaching philosophy. These are recurring programs rather than games, so they do not belong in the 60-game count. Their presence helps explain how NBA TV’s schedule extends beyond live matchups to include studio discussion and coach interviews.

NBA TV will also carry selected games from international leagues, including the Basketball Africa League, Australia’s NBL, France’s LNB Elite and Germany’s Basketball Bundesliga. Its announced slate also includes selected Future Starts Now games featuring high school players. Those broadcasts are separate from the 60 regular-season NBA games, so the channel’s program mix is broader than its NBA schedule count.

Use the dated list for a particular game

For someone deciding whether to tune in on a particular night, the NBA TV release answers three basic questions: which game, what date and what start time. It also points to a complete schedule for the remainder of the season. The opening night, Mexico City game and holiday stretch show that the 60 selections are spread across different parts of the calendar rather than concentrated in one month.

The national schedule is now more complete than it was when the league released the main slate in August. NBA TV adds its own set of dates, while the network’s original programs provide a separate way to follow the league. The cleanest reading is to keep those two parts apart: the 60-game figure describes live regular-season broadcasts, and the studio shows describe the channel’s surrounding coverage.