If Houston’s received lift-off, New York’s received movement: The 2025-26 NBA schedule has landed — and the Knicks lastly have a path to chase the crown.
All 30 groups launched their pre- and regular-season schedules in mid-August, and the Knicks enter the brand new marketing campaign as one of many heavy favorites to make a run on the NBA Finals.
Listed here are 10 issues to keep watch over with simply over a month till preseason suggestions off in early October:
34 NATIONAL TV GAMES
Solely 4 groups have 30+ nationally televised video games this season — the Knicks, Warriors, Thunder, and Lakers — all tied at 34.
With the league’s new media rights deal in full impact, NBA basketball is extra accessible than ever. The Knicks will seem 13 occasions on ESPN or ABC, with the remaining 21 video games break up between new companions NBC/Peacock (11 video games) and Amazon Prime Video (10 video games).
Which means the times of TNT and ESPN monopolizing nationwide broadcasts are over. Knicks followers can nonetheless tune in to MSG Networks domestically, with just a few video games blacked out.
First Look on New Platforms
Oct. 24: Celtics @ Knicks (Prime)
Oct. 28: Knicks @ Bucks (NBC/Peacock)
THE OPENER
OCT. 22 | CAVALIERS @ KNICKS | 7 P.M. | ABC/ESPN
Have the Knicks already been topped kings of the East — slightly too early? Cleveland might need one thing to say.
With Tyrese Haliburton, Jayson Tatum, and Damian Lillard now out of the image, the convention feels wide-open. But it surely was the Cavaliers who posted the East’s greatest document final season, and accidents performed a significant function of their second-round exit to Indiana.
Cleveland not solely swept the Knicks, 4-0, final season, however posted 37- and 19-point blowouts within the course of. Did Mitchell Robinson’s late return slim the hole? What about including Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele?
New York can’t be kings till they take out final season’s high seed.
Remaining vs. Cleveland
Christmas Day @ Knicks
Feb. 24: @ Cavs
The Warmth Examine
Nov. 11 | Grizzlies @ Knicks
Nov. 12 | Magic @ Knicks
This early-season back-to-back could be the hardest check out of the gate. Memphis and Orlando are constructed to grind opponents down — blue-collar playoff groups with deep rotations and bodily punishing kinds.
Clarkson and Yabusele deepen the Knicks’ bench, and Mike Brown is predicted to deploy an extended rotation than Tom Thibodeau ever did. However the Grizzlies and Magic will check New York’s toughness and depth from the soar. Will the Knicks have the ability to reply the bell on fatigued legs?
And the way will they appear in opposition to the new-look Magic with Desmond Bane now in Orlando?
THE GUT CHECK
Jan. 5 | Knicks @ Pistons
There’s actual perception in Detroit {that a} wholesome Jaden Ivey and Isaiah Stewart may have turned final 12 months’s playoff matchup into an upset. The Pistons get their shot at revenge early within the new 12 months.
Little Caesars Enviornment was one of the vital hostile environments the Knicks confronted final postseason. Detroit has embraced its Dangerous Boy roots once more, and final 12 months’s 1–2 regular-season document vs. the Pistons helped gasoline that fireplace.
The Knicks can’t afford to let the Pistons acquire that very same confidence once more ought to the 2 groups meet within the playoffs.
Different Video games Towards Pistons
Feb. 6 @ Detroit
Feb. 19 @ New York
TEMPERATURE CHECKS
Rockets: Feb. 21 @ NYK | Mar. 31 @ HOU
Magic: Nov. 12, Dec. 7 @ NYK | Nov. 22 @ ORL
Hawks: Dec. 27, Apr. 6 @ ATL | Jan. 2 @ NYK
Path Blazers: Jan. 11 @ POR | Jan. 30 @ NYK
The Knicks struggled in opposition to a sure archetype final season: gritty, bodily groups with elite point-of-attack defenders who disrupted circulate for 48 minutes.
Detroit’s Ausar Thompson is certainly one of solely a handful of gamers who harm the Knicks final season. Amen Thompson (Houston), Dyson Daniels (Atlanta), Jalen Suggs (Orlando), and Jrue Vacation (Portland) all lead the cost for aggressive, stingy defenses.
These are key matchups on the Knicks’ 2026 schedule. They’re temperature checks. How will the Knicks fare when issues get scorching?
THE IN-SEASON TOURNAMENT
Group Stage Video games: Oct. 31 – Knicks @ Bulls | Nov. 14: Warmth @ Knicks | Nov. 26: Knicks @ Hornets | Nov. 28: Bucks @ Knicks
Current historical past suggests the NBA Cup isn’t any gimmick. The Thunder gained the 2025 version — then gained the championship. The Pacers made the 2024 Cup last and reached the NBA Finals a 12 months later.
For a group as deep and proficient as New York, the In-Season Event might be a springboard.
If the Knicks win their group — capped with a marquee sport in opposition to the Bucks — they’ll be in place to lift their first banner of any variety since 1993. The Lakers even hung their NBA Cup banner in Crypto.com Enviornment subsequent to their Minneapolis titles.
This might the Knicks’ launching pad.
THE LONG ROAD STRETCHES
5-game street journey: Nov. 16–26 (Warmth, Mavericks, Magic, Nets, Hornets)
18-Day streych: Feb. 22–Mar. 13 (9 of 11 video games on the street)
Highway journeys check greater than stamina — they construct chemistry. The Knicks’ core stays intact, and these lengthy journeys are the place bonds are cast and kinks get labored out.
That is Yr 2 of the Jalen Brunson–Karl-Anthony Cities period. Championship groups sharpen their edge away from dwelling — particularly with checks like Denver and each Los Angeles groups, which loom on the West Coast swing.
THE KING AND THE FUTURE
Feb. 1: Lakers @ Knicks
Mar. 1: Spurs @ Knicks
Not all items come on Christmas. Some come on the primary of the month.
LeBron James is within the twilight of his profession, and final season, he put up a 33-point triple double to stun the Knicks on their very own dwelling flooring. Victor Wembanyama one-upped the King on Christmas Day: 42 factors, 18 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 blocks. Wemby returns to NBA motion after coaching with each Shaolin monks and Kevin Garnett this summer season. And LeBron returns for what might be the second-to-last (or precise final) season of his Corridor of Fame profession.
The Backyard was electrical for these two matchups final season. You gained’t need to miss it this time round.
THE FINAL DATA POINTS
Mar. 29 | Knicks @ Thunder
Mar. 31 | Knicks @ Rockets
The ultimate stretch of the schedule softens — Charlotte, Toronto, Atlanta, Boston — however this late-March journey by way of OKC and Houston? That’s the reality serum.
The Thunder are title favorites. The Rockets signed Kevin Durant and are gunning for them. These are the league’s elite.
If the Knicks need to know the place they honestly stand, they’ll discover out right here. So will everybody else. The world might be watching these two marquee matchups.
THE BIGGEST GAME OF THE SEASON
Mar. 4 | Thunder @ Knicks
Sure, the Pistons and Cavs matchups matter. However when the Thunder come to New York, it’s a referendum on every part.
It is a championship-or-bust 12 months in NYC, and the Knicks regarded overmatched in each video games in opposition to OKC final season — a 10-point loss on the street, adopted by a 25-point blowout at MSG.
Shedding to the champs is one factor. Trying such as you don’t belong in the identical fitness center is one other.
The Knicks must show they belong, not simply among the many league’s elite, however within the reliable championship contender dialog. A win at dwelling over the reigning champs accomplishes simply that.
Initially Printed: August 18, 2025 at 3:24 PM EDT
