NBA Schedule 2023-24: Opening-Week, Christmas Day and MLK Games Released
The holiday season is still months away, but Thursday was something like Christmas morning for NBA fans.
After all, the league released the complete schedule for the 2023-24 campaign, meaning fans got their first look at the full opening-week slate and holiday games for Christmas Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Here are those notable games on the schedule, which can be found in full at NBA.com.
Opening Week Nationally Televised Games
Tuesday, Oct. 24
- Los Angeles Lakers at Denver Nuggets, 7:30 p.m. ET, TNT
- Phoenix Suns at Golden State Warriors, 10 p.m. ET, TNT
Wednesday, Oct. 25
- Boston Celtics at New York Knicks, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN
- Dallas Mavericks at San Antonio Spurs, 9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
Thursday, Oct. 26
- Philadelphia 76ers at Milwaukee Bucks, 7:30 p.m. ET, TNT
- Phoenix Suns at Los Angeles Lakers, 10 p.m. ET, TNT
Friday, Oct. 27
- Miami Heat at Boston Celtics, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
- Golden State Warriors at Sacramento Kings, 10 p.m. ET, ESPN
Saturday, Oct. 28
- New York Knicks at New Orleans Pelicans, 7 p.m. ET, NBA TV
- Utah Jazz at Phoenix Suns, 10 p.m. ET, NBA TV
Christmas Day
- Milwaukee Bucks at New York Knicks, noon ET, ESPN
- Golden State Warriors at Denver Nuggets, 2:30 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN
- Boston Celtics at Los Angeles Lakers, 5 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN
- Philadelphia 76ers at Miami Heat, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN
- Dallas Mavericks at Phoenix Suns, 10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
Martin Luther King Jr. Day Nationally Televised Games
- Houston Rockets at Philadelphia 76ers, 1 p.m. ET, NBA TV
- San Antonio Spurs at Atlanta Hawks, 3:30 p.m. ET, TNT
- Golden State Warriors at Memphis Grizzlies, 6 p.m. ET, TNT
- Oklahoma City Thunder at Los Angeles Lakers, 10:30 p.m. ET, NBA TV
Christmas Day Predictions
Milwaukee Bucks at New York Knicks
Sometimes games come down to which team has the best individual player, and that was the case every time the Milwaukee Bucks faced the New York Knicks last season with Giannis Antetokounmpo on the floor.
Milwaukee went 3-0 in those games, and the seven-time All-Star posted a double-double in all three victories. He was one assist away from a triple-double in the Oct. 28 win (30 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists) and three assists away in the Nov. 30 win (37 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists).
The NBA has a long history of superstar players playing at their best when they take the court under the Madison Square Garden spotlight, and Antetokounmpo is no exception.
Look for the two-time MVP to lead his team to another win over the Knicks.
Bucks 111, Knicks 104
Philadelphia 76ers at Miami Heat
Good luck predicting who will even be on the court in this game, let alone who will win.
The Damian Lillard-to-the Miami Heat rumors dominated much of the NBA offseason, but he remains on the Portland Trail Blazers for now. Then there is the James Harden situation, which took quite a turn for the Philadelphia 76ers when video surfaced of him calling the team's president of basketball operations Daryl Morey a "liar" amid speculation about his own future.
So maybe this game will be Jimmy Butler, Lillard and Bam Adebayo on one side with Embiid, Harden and Tyrese Maxey on the other. Or maybe Lillard will still be on the Trail Blazers and Harden will be elsewhere.
Or maybe it will be something in between.
Regardless, the Heat are at home and have the more stable infrastructure in place with Butler, Adebayo and head coach Erik Spoelstra. Look for them to get the Christmas victory.
Heat 103, 76ers 98
Boston Celtics at Los Angeles Lakers
The NBA's marquee rivalry throughout its history will take center stage on Christmas Day with the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers facing each other.
Both teams are entering the new season with championship-or-bust expectations after reaching their respective conference finals and falling short of the ultimate goal in 2022-23. Both teams have no shortage of star power with LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
And both teams should be motivated to put on a show on this stage.
Boston defeated the Lakers in overtime twice last season, but the second one was rather infamous with James appearing to be fouled at the end of regulation. Yet the whistle never blew, and the Celtics went on to win the game in overtime when the King would have had the chance to put it away on the free-throw line.
The King surely remembers that and will enact some revenge this time around.
Lakers 113, Celtics 106
Dallas Mavericks at Phoenix Suns
One of the NBA's best blossoming rivalries seemed to hit a high point in the 2022 playoffs when the Dallas Mavericks stunned the top-seeded Phoenix Suns in seven games in the second round, but this season's matchups promise to be enticing as well.
How could they not be with Kevin Durant, Luka Dončić, Devin Booker, Bradley Beal and Kyrie Irving on the floor at the same time?
Phoenix is in championship mode with the addition of Beal this offseason, while Dallas is looking to bounce back from a collapse that left it outside of the playoff picture entirely last season.
These two teams split their four games last season, but the Suns have more firepower this time around with Beal as a third option and Deandre Ayton as an overqualified fourth option. That firepower will win out on Christmas, especially since the game is being played in Phoenix.
Suns 121, Mavericks 118
Golden State Warriors at Denver Nuggets
A showdown between the last two champions is quite the Christmas treat.
The Golden State Warriors are the NBA's most recent dynasty and still have many of the same pieces in place with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and head coach Steve Kerr, but the NBA belongs to the Denver Nuggets at this point.
Nobody figured out a way to stop Nikola Jokić last season, especially in the playoffs, and Jamal Murray is more than capable of taking over games on his own as well.
The Nuggets swept Golden State last season and averaged 124.7 points per game in those three matchups. The Warriors have no answers for the reigning champions' explosive offense, and that won't change this season.
Denver will defend home court.
Nuggets 128, Warriors 120
