NBA returns to NBC, debuts on Peacock: Check out the full slate of more than 100 games

Crank up the Roundball Rock!

For the first time in 24 years, the NBA has returned to NBC — and is debuting on Peacock — with more than 100 games, featuring the biggest stars, some playoff rematches, and some of the NBA’s classic rivalries all taking their turn in the spotlight.

Many of those games will be highlighted in the big three nights of games on NBC and Peacock every week: Peacock NBA Monday, Coast 2 Coast Tuesday, and Sunday Night Basketball (starting after the NFL season).

Everything tips off on the NBA’s opening night, Oct. 21, with a double header on NBC and streaming on Peacock. First, the Houston Rockets visit the NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder, marking the night the players receive their rings and OKC raises its championship banner. In the second game of the night, it’s Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors visiting LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in a showdown of two NBA icons.

After that dramatic opening, we get into the weekly games.

Peacock NBA Monday

Starting on Oct. 27 and every Monday throughout the season, as many as three games will be streamed exclusively on Peacock. This Monday night series opens with a must-watch doubleheader: Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers travel to Detroit to take on the fast-rising Pistons led by Cade Cunningham. In the second game, two of the West’s top teams face off when Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets travel to Minnesota to take on Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves.

Another Peacock NBA Monday game to circle on your calendar comes on March 9, when the last two MVPs — the Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Nuggets’ Jokic — face off when Denver travels to Oklahoma City.

Check out the full Peacock NBA Monday schedule:

Coast 2 Coast Tuesday

One week after the NBA season tips off, Coast 2 Coast Tuesday, Oct. 28, with doubleheaders on NBC and Peacock.

Tuesday nights will begin with a 30-minute studio show leading into the double header. The first game starts at 8 p.m. ET and will be presented on NBC stations in the Eastern and Central time zones. That will be followed by an 8 p.m. PT game shown on NBC stations in the Pacific and Mountain time zones. Both games will stream on Peacock.

Coast 2 Coast Tuesday tips off Oct. 28 with a doubleheader of the New York Knicks at the Milwaukee Bucks at 8 p.m. ET, followed by the Los Angeles Clippers at the Golden State Warriors at 8 p.m. PT. Here are some of the other games not to miss on what will be a weekly showcase of the best in the league.

• Nov. 4, the Orlando Magic at the Atlanta Hawks (8 ET). Two teams that had some of the best offseasons in the NBA and two teams with top-four aspirations in the East meet in an early-season showdown. Trae Young and Paolo Banchero are always worth tuning in to see.

• Nov. 25, the Orlando Magic at the Philadelphia 76ers (8ET). If Paul George, Joel Embiid and the core of the 76ers are healthy, this is one of the best teams in the East, but will they be? Good test around Thanksgiving against the fast-rising Magic.

• Jan. 20, the San Antonio Spurs at the Houston Rockets. This is going to be one of the big rivalries in the NBA in the coming years, and we get to see Kevin Durant, Amen Thompson and the Rockets’ deep roster try to attack a defense led by Victor Wembanyama (the preseason favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year). Also, it’s a chance to check in on No. 2 pick Dylan Harper and how he is progressing in San Antonio.

• March 10: the Dallas Mavericks at the Atlanta Hawks. The No. 1 picks of the last two seasons — Dallas’ Cooper Flagg and Atlanta’s Zaccharie Risacher — face off.

Check out the full Coast 2 Coast Tuesday schedule:

Sunday Night Basketball

Sports fans have come to expect the best games being on Sunday, and that will be no different when Sunday Night Basketball is launched on Feb. 1, 2026. That coverage starts after NBC’s NFL coverage but will pause for two weeks — on Feb. 8, NBC and Peacock will broadcast Super Bowl LX, and on Feb. 15, there will be coverage of the NBA All-Star Game, and the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics — but will restart on Feb. 22 with some fascinating games (all of which also will be streamed on Peacock).

Among the must-watch games on Sunday Night Basketball are:

• Feb. 1, a double header featuring LeBron and the Lakers traveling to Madison Square Garden to take on the Knicks (7 pm ET) — LeBron has a long history of showcase games in that building — which will be followed by a showdown between two of the last three NBA champions, Oklahoma City at Denver.

• Feb. 22, the Boston Celtics at the Los Angeles Lakers, a renewal of the league’s greatest historic rivalry.

• March 8, Kevin Durant and Houston travel to San Antonio to take on Victor Wembanyama and the fast-rising Spurs in a West showdown. These Texas teams could form the NBA’s best rivalry for the rest of this decade.

• April 5, Luka Doncic returns to Dallas wearing Lakers colors as he takes on Cooper Flagg, Anthony Davis and the Mavericks.

Here is the full Sunday schedule on NBC and Peacock:

Martin Luther King Jr. Day Quadrupleheader

Some of the NBA’s biggest names — Giannis Antetokounmpo, Trae Young, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Donovan Mitchell, Cooper Flagg, Jalen Brunson, Jaylen Brown and more — will be featured as NBC Sports will present a quadrupleheader on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Jan. 19, 2026. All four games will be streamed on Peacock. Those games are:

• 1:00 p.m. ET: Milwaukee Bucks at Atlanta Hawks (Peacock exclusive)
• 2:30 p.m. ET: Oklahoma City Thunder at Cleveland Cavaliers (NBC/Peacock)
• 5:00 p.m. ET: Dallas Mavericks at New York Knicks (NBC/Peacock)
• 8:00 p.m. ET: Boston Celtics at Detroit Pistons (NBC/Peacock)