The 1 NBA Game to Watch Every Night for the Rest of 2020

The new NBA season begins Tuesday night, a little more than two months after the conclusion of the Orlando bubble. Highlights of opening week include a TNT doubleheader tonight and five games on Christmas Day.

The 2020-21 schedule is 72 games, with each team back in its home arena (except the Raptors—more on them later). The presence and number of fans will be determined by teams and cities throughout the season.

We want to be your guide for the next several nights as your favorite teams and players return to the court. We've selected the single game every day that will be most worth your time to watch, beginning tonight and ending New Year's Eve.

Many games below will be on national television, and others will be on NBA League Pass. You can watch live games all season with NBA League Pass on B/R Live, including a free preview week running through Dec. 29. Learn more here.

Note: All tipoff times Eastern

Tuesday, Dec. 22: Clippers at Lakers | 10 p.m. on TNT

This choice was a slam dunk: The defending champions open their season back in Los Angeles against their intracity rival.

LeBron James and Anthony Davis signed contract extensions in the offseason, and the Lakers added significantly to their supporting cast. Dennis Schroder, Wesley Matthews and Marc Gasol will all play key minutes in the rotation. But their biggest move hits right at the heart of this rivalry: Reigning Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell has switched allegiances, jumping from the Clippers' red and blue into the famous purple and gold.

That hurdle is just one more challenge the Clippers will have to overcome after crashing out of the playoffs in the bubble. Kawhi Leonard is back, Paul George just signed a large extension, and, in another twist to the rivalry, Ty Lue, James' former coach in Cleveland, now leads the Clippers. With Patrick Beverly and Lou Williams back as well, the Clips still look great on paper. But with the way both teams finished last season, we learned once again that teams are ultimately judged on playoff results, not regular-season wins or hype.

The battle for L.A. is the second half of TNT's opening-night doubleheader. It will be preceded by Warriors vs. Nets in Kevin Durant's first official game back from injury and against his former team. And it will be followed by the season's first Inside the NBA, with Ernie, Kenny, Shaq and Charles.

Wednesday, Dec. 23: Dallas Mavericks at Phoenix Suns | 10:30 p.m. on ESPN

What does Luka Doncic do for an encore? The Mavs star won Rookie of the Year and then jumped to a first-team All-NBA selection in his second season. He'll have a heavier load on his shoulders to start the season, with running mate Kristaps Porzingis recovering from a torn right meniscus sustained in the playoffs. Dallas had the highest offensive rating in the league last season, so we know it'll be entertaining.

And it will start with a fun opener against a young and exciting Suns team, the darlings of the bubble after winning all eight games there and narrowly missing the play-in series. Devin Booker was a breakout star in Orlando.

He'll be joined this season by veteran Chris Paul, giving Phoenix one of the best backcourts in the NBA. Wednesday will be Paul's team debut. He'll bring some leadership to a youthful roster, much like he did in guiding the Thunder to a surprise playoff appearance last year.

Friday, Dec. 25: Golden State Warriors at Milwaukee Bucks | 2:30 p.m. on ABC

NBA fans are spoiled this week, with the marquee games of opening night and Christmas Day only three days apart. While the Christmas slate is awesome from top to bottom (see below), we had to pick Warriors-Bucks, especially after back-to-back MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo signed his supermax extension with Milwaukee last week, the largest contract in NBA history.

Christmas will be the Greek Freak's first home game after reaching the deal. And the fact that it comes against Golden State, a team long rumored to be a 2021 free-agent destination for him, is chef's kiss.

Speaking of the Warriors, they're back after a forgettable run last season defined by injuries. Klay Thompson will unfortunately miss another year with an Achilles injury, but Steph Curry returns, and we'll get to see how he, Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins and No. 2 overall draft pick James Wiseman work on the floor together.

It will be interesting to see if and how they're able to regain the swagger and confidence that helped them make five straight NBA Finals appearances. Christmas against the Bucks will be a great early indicator. 

Saturday, Dec. 26: Atlanta Hawks at Memphis Grizzlies | 5 p.m. on NBA TV

This matchup is another easy sell: Trae Young vs. Ja Morant.

The reigning Rookie of the Year and the Grizzlies nearly made the leap from lottery to the playoffs last year, falling to Portland in the play-in series. Memphis is still a young team in the supercompetitive West. Morant and his supporting cast—Jaren Jackson Jr., Dillon Brooks, Jonas Valanciunas—will need to take the next step in order to reach the play-in round again or finish high enough to avoid it completely.

Atlanta finds itself in a similar position trying to reach that next level in year three with Young. The Hawks played at one of the fastest paces in the league but were among the worst shooting 3-pointers and on defense, which was too much to overcome even with Young earning an All-Star appearance and John Collins averaging 20 and 10.

There are two pieces of good news for Hawks fans. The team addressed those deficiencies with free-agent signings Bogdan Bogdanovic, Danilo Gallinari, Rajon Rondo and Kris Dunn. They play in the East, where, although it's gotten deeper in recent seasons, it still likely won't require a team to be above (or even at) .500 to qualify for the playoffs. So, like Memphis, Atlanta will have higher expectations for this season but will also be learning on the fly on how to reach them.

Sunday, Dec. 27: Brooklyn Nets at Charlotte Hornets | 7 p.m. on NBA TV

This game will be just Durant's third since he injured his Achilles, signed with the Nets and sat out last season while recovering. Regardless of any rooting interest, it's great having Durant back healthy and getting buckets.

Also, Brooklyn is going to be fascinating. There is Durant's return, the Kyrie Irving experience, Steve Nash's debut season as a head coach, and the fact that the Nets were actually pretty good last season when both stars were out of the lineup. Brooklyn might not have a dull moment all year, for better or worse.

There is a lot of upside in Charlotte, which signed Gordon Hayward, drafted LaMelo Ball and return "maybe should have won Most Improved Player" Devonte' Graham. Ball and Graham will be an energized backcourt to pair with the high-flying Miles Bridges for a core that should have chairman Michael Jordan excited. Charlotte finished 10th last season and would qualify for the play-in series at that spot this year in a realistic expectation in the East.

Monday, Dec. 28: Houston Rockets at Denver Nuggets | 9 p.m. on NBA League Pass (stream free here)

Is James Harden still on the Rockets? Will James Harden be on the Rockets for this game next Monday?

The Beard's apparent insistence on getting out of Houston has been one of the most dramatic sagas of this short offseason, one that also included his team making the blockbuster Russell Westbrook-for-John Wall trade. Regardless of how things shake out with Harden, the Rockets reunited college teammates and friends Wall and DeMarcus Cousins and added rising star Christian Wood. Houston might be one of those teams you can't take your eyes off.

On the other side, Denver seems poised to improve upon its bubble breakthrough, when Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic put up some of the best performances of their careers. The Nuggets reached the conference finals after becoming the first NBA team to come back from two 3-1 series deficits in the playoffs. They return their entire core and look like they're about to unleash Bol Bol, who along with Jokic give them two 7-footers with do-it-all skill sets, which seems unfair.

If Harden sticks with Houston, this game could be a high-scoring, back-and-forth shootout. Sign us up.

Tuesday, Dec. 29: Toronto Raptors at Philadelphia 76ers | 7 p.m. on NBA League Pass (stream free here)

The Doc Rivers era begins in Philadelphia, where he will be tasked with taking the duo of Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons to the next level. The Sixers underachieved last season and were swept in the first round by the Celtics, leading to the Rivers hire. Philadelphia added some much-needed shooting help for Simmons and Embiid, bringing in Seth Curry and Danny Green. This matchup against the Raptors will be a good first-week measuring stick. 

And Toronto will be in a unique position throughout the season. The 2019 champs will play their home games in Tampa, Florida, because of Canada's pandemic restrictions on travel into and out of the country. The Raptors re-signed Fred VanVleet but lost veteran big men Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol in free agency, but just like after the departure of Kawhi Leonard, you cannot dismiss this squad. Reigning Coach of the Year Nick Nurse and point guard Kyle Lowry provide excellent leadership. While the Raptors don't have a ton of flash, they play soundly on both ends and are a great team to watch simply to see good basketball.

Wednesday, Dec. 30: Milwaukee Bucks at Miami Heat | 7:30 p.m. on NBA TV

Milwaukee and Miami meet after the Heat upset the Bucks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals last season. This game will be the second between these teams in as many nights, an example of the NBA's new "series scheduling" this year to help reduce travel. Milwaukee will likely be looking to make an early statement against Miami to get some revenge for those playoff defeats.

For the Heat, everything runs through Jimmy Butler. After winning the East last year and making the Finals, Miami probably won't sneak up on anyone sort of like they did in the bubble. The emergence of Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro to go along with veterans Goran Dragic, Andre Iguodala, and the newly signed Avery Bradley give the Heat a real chance to return to the Finals once again under coach Erik Spoelstra.

Thursday, Dec. 31: New Orleans Pelicans at Oklahoma City Thunder | 8 p.m. on NBA League Pass (stream here)

You all didn't think we would get through this guide without Zion, right?

The phenom enters his second season fully healthy and without a minutes restriction, setting up New Orleans to take advantage of its talented young core—Williamson, Lonzo Ball and 2019-20 Most Improved Player Brandon Ingram—despite the trade of Jrue Holiday. The Pelicans also have a new coach in charge, Stan Van Gundy, and playoff expectations.

The Holiday trade also sent Steven Adams from the Thunder to the Pelicans, so he'll make his first return to OKC in this game. It's easy to say that Oklahoma City has gone into a full rebuild after trading Russell Westbrook, Paul George, Chris Paul and Adams in the past two offseasons.

But even with their meme-worthy amount of first-round picks over the next few years, they're not tanking (at least not yet). OKC has a gem in shooting guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to go with breakout guard Lu Dort and veterans George Hill and Al Horford. Another playoff run will be tough in the West, but this team, especially SGA, will be fun to watch and develop.