The Knicks are firmly the main attraction.
The NBA placed its defending champions front and center, as the Knicks will be showcased both Opening Night and Christmas Day.
They will face off with LeBron James and the 76ers on Opening Night at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 20, when they will raise their championship banner and collect their rings in front of King James and his new team. It will be James’ and Jaylen Brown’s debuts with Philadelphia after the team’s blockbuster moves this offseason.
It will be the first time the Knicks raise a championship banner since 1973. The game — at 7 p.m. on NBC — will be the second of a triple-header slate on the network, sandwiched between a Celtics-Pistons matchup and Thunder-Spurs showdown.
Christmas Day, the Knicks will host Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs at MSG in a Finals rematch — the first meeting between the teams since Game 5, when the Knicks secured the championship.
The teams similarly played on Christmas 2024, providing an exhilarating preview of what they would deliver a year later.
Mikal Bridges memorably erupted for 41 points in a 117-114 Knicks win. Wemby put on a show with 42 points, 18 rebounds and four blocks for the Spurs.
This year’s matchup will kick off the league’s Christmas Day slate at noon on ABC/ESPN. Later in the day, LeBron will return to Los Angeles as the 76ers square off with the Lakers. Heat-Celtics, Thunder-Timberwolves and Nuggets-Warriors are the other Christmas Day matchups.
And the Knicks will travel to face Boston as part of Amazon Prime’s first Friday night doubleheader Oct. 23, at 7 p.m., before Rockets-Spurs later in the night.
It will be the second nationally televised game the Knicks play in the first week of the season and the first time they will play against Mitchell Robinson, who signed with the Celtics this offseason after eight years in New York.
The Knicks have a long history of playing on Christmas, with more games (58), wins (26) and losses (32) than any other team. Last year, they delivered another memorable win — overcoming a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit (a taste of what would come later in the postseason) to come back and beat the Cavaliers 126-124 at MSG. Jalen Brunson poured in 34 points while Tyler Kolek and Jordan Clarkson had huge games off the bench.
It was a role reversal from the last time the Knicks played the league’s Opening Night two years ago — at Boston for the Celtics’ banner and ring night after their 2024 title. The Knicks were blown out 132-109.
This time, though, it will be their coronation in front of a national audience, their banner entering immortality and rings sliding onto their fingers.
MSG will once again be the place to be.
