The two biggest regular season games of the defending champion New York Knicks’ schedule have been released, as the NBA revealed Tuesday morning on Good Morning America that the Knicks would open their season by raising the banner on October 20th against the Philadelphia 76ers before squaring off with the San Antonio Spurs in an NBA Finals rematch at MSG on Christmas Day.
The Ring Night matchup against the Sixers was not something that many saw coming after the season concluded, but Philly’s two blockbuster moves to acquire Jaylen Brown and LeBron James moved them to the front of the line to open their season at the World’s Most Famous Arena with their new-look roster.
Weirdly, they will not be the first game of the NBA season, as the league decided to put Pistons-Celtics at 3pm on a Tuesday for some reason, marking the first time since 2022-23 the defending champions weren’t playing the first game of the league calendar.
As for Christmas, it’s the juiciest possible matchup between the two teams with probably the best inter-conference rivalry in basketball (Celtics-Lakers hasn’t had that feel in a while). Classic matchups the last three years that included Brunson’s 60-point game, Wembanyama’s 40-20, a Christmas 2024 clash, Champagnie’s barrage of threes on NYE 2025, the 2025 NBA Cup Final, and of course, the 2026 NBA Finals, the most viewed finals since Michael Jordan still roamed.
It’s the sixth consecutive year the Knicks will be playing at Madison Square Garden on Christmas, expanding their lead on all-time appearances to 59. It’s the 11th consecutive time they’ll be playing at MSG, dating back to a clash at Staples Center with the Lakers in 2012-13. Before that, the last time the Knicks spent Christmas on the road was 1999 against Indiana. It will also likely be the 10th consecutive noon appearance for the Knicks, because let’s be real.
It’s also a return of something that a lot of fans clamor for every year. It’s the first time since 2018 that Christmas features an NBA Finals rematch, something not seen since the Cavs and Warriors did it three straight years. The lack of true juice in the Finals can contribute to that feeling, but we definitely have a rivalry here to sink our teeth into.
The other matchups on these two nights include the Western Conference champion Spurs hosting the 2025 NBA champion OKC Thunder on Opening Night. On Christmas, it’s Giannis and the Heat heading to Boston to face Jayson Tatum and the Celtics, LeBron returning to Los Angeles to play his former team, the Thunder visiting Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves, and Nikola Jokic squaring off with Steph Curry in the Bay Area.
