Knicks, 76ers to Play 2 Preseason Games for NBA Abu Dhabi Games 2025

The NBA announced the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers will play two preseason games in Abu Dhabi in October.

Etihad Arena will host the pair of contests on Oct. 2 and 4.

"Fans in Abu Dhabi will have the opportunity to see two of the NBA's historic franchises when the Knicks and 76ers face off in October," said George Aivazoglou, the league's managing director for Europe and the Middle East. "We look forward to engaging fans and aspiring players from the local community and across the region for the fourth consecutive year, through our games and surrounding events."

Abu Dhabi has become a regular preseason stop for the NBA. This will be the fourth straight year the league headed to the capital of the United Arab Emirates. This past fall, the Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets made the trip, with Boston taking both matchups.

Fans in Abu Dhabi have a pretty good idea of who will be suiting up for the Knicks. Even if the Detroit Pistons upset New York in the first round of the 2025 NBA playoffs, it's hard to envision team president Leon Rose totally overhauling the roster only one year after the blockbuster trades for Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges.

The Sixers could be another story after they had one of the more disappointing seasons in franchise history. While injuries limited Paul George and Joel Embiid to 60 combined appearances, Philly's 24-58 finish raised serious concerns about whether the three-man axis of Embiid, George and Tyrese Maxey is a championship formula.

One year in, George's $211.6 million contract is looking like a potential albatross after he averaged his fewest points (16.2) over a full season since 2011-12. Even if Philly wanted to entertain trade offers for the nine-time All-Star, it may struggle to find any takers.

Assuming the Embiid, George and Maxey triumvirate remains intact, the pieces around them could be much different.

"If everything sets up well, we'll have a younger, more dynamic roster around a healthy Joel, Tyrese and Paul," team president Daryl Morey told reporters earlier this month. "I never felt like [head coach Nick Nurse] had a healthy literally one game with all three of them. I know they played some games together, but they didn't finish all of them and even the ones where it was like their first game back."

To the extent preseason games carry any meaning, the 76ers will give their fans some reason for optimism if they perform well against a fellow Eastern Conference contender.