The NBA has a regular, predictable cadence throughout the year.
For instance, June is for wrapping up the current season (Finals) and quickly moving on to next year’s crop of talent (Draft). July is for free agency and Summer league.
And August is for the unveiling of the upcoming season schedule — along with weddings (Haliburton), vacations, plus any final staff additions.
More than anything, it’s the one time of year when everyone in the league tries to break away from the 365-day job.
The NBA officially unveiled the full slate of games for the 2026-27 season. But first, they mirrored the NFL in allowing broadcast partners to announce certain parts of the schedule in the days leading up — like marquee dates such as opening night and Christmas Day.
But as Larry Bird used to say, “41 at home? 41 on the road? Looks all right to me.”
Well, not exactly for the Pacers this season. They have one game in Mexico City, and the league only announced 80 of 82 games; two games will be scheduled later based on NBA Cup performance.
There are many takeaways from this Pacers schedule, but opening night is the most glaring omission — because it is the first one.
A major one.
Here’s what I wrote in a collaborative piece over on 🏀 5x5 | Royce Webb:
I know it’s my beat … but I’m stunned that six Eastern Conference teams will appear on national TV opening week — and the Pacers aren’t one of them.
They pushed OKC to Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals and led at halftime despite All-NBA guard Tyrese Haliburton tearing his Achilles.
What a difference one lost season makes. The league moves on fast. Even more: Haliburton’s return won’t happen in front of Pacers fans, but 800 miles away in New Orleans.
The Pacers, coming off their worst season in NBA franchise history with just 19 wins, will be on the road for four of their first six games — including opening night.
Led by head coach Rick Carlisle, 66, the Pacers have a stable roster and productive results on the court. Last season, due to injuries, was an anomaly.
Here’s Indiana’s win total since Carlisle took over:
2021-22: 25
2022-23: 35
2023-24: 47
2024-25: 50
2025-26: 19
The group, which returns mostly intact, should be both refreshed (having not played since April 12) and motivated.
Single-game tickets go on sale Wednesday, September 16.
NBA training camps open on Tuesday, Sept. 29, so media day should be held the day before.
As of now, there’s no firm update on the Pacers’ local TV deal. Games will no longer appear on Bally Sports Indiana. That’s over. However, there are multiple ways the team could move forward:
1) local, over-the-air network or 2) a streaming-only option.
This seems to be a one-off season for many teams and their broadcast partners, with the hope that the NBA will bring them all under the same umbrella, then sell those local rights to the same digital distributor — such as YouTube, Amazon, etc.
As I’ve written about, for what seems like a decade, is they must think of local TV as marketing. How can they reach the most fans? How can they take care of the existing ones while ensuring a quality, consistent product? The younger crowd consumes games on their phone, watching clips on social media and highlights on YouTube.
But what if they could get them to attend a game? Then another. And buy merchandise. Then engage with the team regularly.
That’s the big-picture thinking in a sports TV landscape that has significantly changed again and again.
… And now, it’s time for my 15th annual breakdown of the schedule.
🏀 League-wide Notes
The NBA is entering its 81st season.
Opening night will now be a triple-header on NBC: Celtics-Pistons, 76ers-Knicks, and Thunder-Spurs. The first game is at 3 p.m. ET, which is experimental. I like it. And it’s great for overseas fans too.
FIVE games on Christmas, and still no Pacers appearance for more than two decades: Spurs-Knicks, Heat-Celtics, 76ers-Lakers, Thunder-Timberwolves, Nuggets-Warriors.
And they’ll continue to fight for screens in home of sports fans. Because the NFL has a triple-header scheduled: Packers-Bears, Bills-Broncos, Rams-Seahawks. The first two are on Netflix, while the third game airs on FOX.
All-Star Break: Feb. 19-25.
The NBA is continuing Rivals Week for “classic and budding rivalries” for a fifth straight season, Jan. 26-30. For the Pacers, that’s games against the Bulls, Lakers, and Wizards? Yeah…. no.
All 30 teams will once again play their final regular-season game on Sunday, April 11. Eastern Conference teams will tip off at 6:30 p.m. ET, while the seven games between Western Conference teams follow at 8:30 p.m. ET.
And here’s your handy guide for where to watch national TV games:
🗓️ Preseason Dates
The first two games were known, and now the full four-game slate is official. Two at home and two on the road. And all wrapped up the week prior to Opening Week.
(Teams line up their exhibition slate, not the NBA.)
Wednesday, Oct. 7 v Minnesota Timberwolves (at Iowa State), 7 p.m. ET
Saturday, Oct. 10 v Atlanta Hawks, 7 p.m. ET
Tuesday, Oct. 13 at Oklahoma City Thunder, 8 p.m. ET
Friday, Oct. 16 v Milwaukee Bucks, 7 p.m. ET
🏆 In-Season Tournament
Before the regular-season schedule was announced, the NBA first released the NBA Cup schedule to bring attention to it. Cup nights will be held every Friday from Oct. 30 through Nov. 27, along with Nov. 24-25.
The Pacers are in East Group B with the Cavs, Heat, Knicks, and 76ers. All contenders in the Eastern Conference, so it’ll be a grueling matchup each game.
Friday, Oct. 30 at Miami Heat, 8 p.m. ET
Friday, Nov. 13 vs New York Knicks, 7 p.m. ET | Prime
Friday, Nov. 20 at Cleveland Cavaliers, 7:30 p.m. ET
Friday, Nov. 27 vs Philadelphia 76ers, 7:30 p.m. ET
🇲🇽 Mexico Trip
As announced last April, the Pacers will play the Nuggets in Mexico City on Saturday, Nov. 7 (5 p.m. ET). It’s a Pacers home game, so season-ticket holders will not get to see Nikola Jokic in person this season.
Unlike their trip to Paris, it does not lead to extended time before or after.
They’ll likely leave on Thursday, two days before tip-off, and then head straight to Dallas after the game to play the Mavericks Monday night. That’s a good pit stop on their way home to Indy.
And just 11 games into the new season, their season series with the Mavs will be complete.
🎁 Holiday Games
The Pacers enjoy hosting games Thanksgiving week, and that will continue. But it will be a quiet week. They’ll host OKC for a highly-anticipated game on Nov. 23 — though, oddly not picked up by national TV — and then the 76ers make their second visit on Friday, Nov. 27.
They will not play on Christmas. But they will host their usual matinee on New Year’s Eve, 3 p.m. against the Orlando Magic.
Additionally, the Pacers make their only visit to San Francisco to play the Warriors on Monday, Feb. 15. It’s the final game of NBC’s quadruple header on Presidents’ Day.
There will be no games played on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3. So all 30 teams will play the day before. I should also note that they host the Wizards on Veterans Day (Nov. 11).
But nothing on Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Day, or MLK Jr. Day.
Back-to-backs: 15
That’s two more than last season, and their highest number since coming out of the pandemic. Only four of them come after the All-Star break.
Previous seasons:
2025-26: 13
2024-25: 14
2023-24: 13
2022-23: 14
2021-22: 14
2020-21: 17
2019-20: 9
2018-19: 14
2017-18: 14
2016-17: 17
2015-16: 17
2014-15: 17
📺 National TV Games: 11
Remember, more TV networks so this is a higher number than usual. But still less than I expected given the high expectations for this team being fully healthy.
Five on Peacock, four on Prime, one on ESPN, and one on NBC.
They were scheduled for nine before last season, but were flexed out six times.
Previous seasons:
2025-26: 9
2024-25: 9
2023-24: 1
2022-23: 1
2021-22: 1
2020-21: 3
2019-20: 6
2018-19: 12
2017-18: 1
2016-17: 11
2015-16: 7
2014-15: 5
From last season:
✈️ Road Trips: Five
The Pacers came out well here. The long trip over Christmas is definitely among the top things those in the traveling party took note of right away.
It’s at least a nine-day trip, over Christmas, and with the dreaded Salt Lake City and Denver back-to-back. Especially to close the trip. And then they play at home just two nights later. That’ll be a tough return game against the Clippers.
Five games in eight days — and far away from home during a big family holiday.
The second one is very friendly and makes sense. And the trip out west in February is perfect for guys like Haliburton and Pascal Siakam given that the All-Star game is in Phoenix. They’ll be out there already.
The Pacers close the regular season with five games in 11 days, in five different cities. I went ahead and included the one off home game as part of the trip because it’s quick and might as well be included as part of the trip. That won’t be easy, but they could have their playoff seed locked up.
Dec. 20-27: LA (Clippers), LA (Lakers), Suns, Jazz, Nuggets
Jan. 17-22: Washington, Philadelphia, Boston, Detroit
Feb. 15-18: Golden State, Sacramento, Portland
Mar. 11-15: Charlotte, Houston, Brooklyn
Apr. 4-11: Toronto, Charlotte, Detroit, Indy (v Cleveland), New York
🏠 Longest Homestands: Five
The fourth one is mighty. Nine of 10 games during a three-week stretch are at home. And the lone road game is one of their biggest of the year: Haliburton’s return to OKC, site of Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals.
It’s good that they get essentially 10 days at home before wrapping up the regular-season slate with a difficult — and potentially critical — five-game stretch.
Dec. 13-17: Detroit, Golden State, Portland
Dec. 29-Jan. 4: LA (Clippers), Orlando, Minnesota, Chicago
Jan. 9-15: Milwaukee, Brooklyn, Milwaukee, Phoenix
Jan. 26-Feb. 11: Chicago, LA (Lakers), Washington, Miami, Atlanta, (at OKC), New Orleans, Cleveland, Utah, Sacramento
Mar. 24-Apr. 1: Memphis, San Antonio, (at Chicago), Boston, Orlando
⭐️ Notable Home Games
Fri., Oct. 23: Opponent doesn’t really matter. Gainbridge Fieldhouse will go nuts as Haliburton appears in his first home game in 16 months. Surprisingly, this game wasn’t picked up by national TV, just like opening night.
Wed., Oct. 28: Home Game 2 will be fascinating, an early look at LeBron James & the new look 76ers. It’s their only game scheduled to air on ESPN too.
Fri., Nov. 13: Jalen Brunson and the reigning champs, the NY Knicks visit. This just might qualify for a rivalry renewed, though the Knicks didn’t have to go through the Pacers last postseason en route to a title.
Wed., Nov. 18: Kevin Durant and the Rockets visit for the only time this season.
Mon., Nov. 23: The Thunder visit to begin Thanksgiving week. The Pacers are ready for payback.
Wed., Dec. 16: Steph Curry’s annual visit and this one is early enough not to worry about rest, injuries or anything else. They normally visit in early spring — and it’s highly questionable. The Warriors will not be on a back-to-back.
Sat., Jan. 2: Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves. Are they contenders? We will see in the New Year.
Sat., Jan. 9: The Bucks will be much different than before now that Giannis Antetokounmpo is no longer there. But Myles Turner is — at least for now. They play in Indy twice over a five-game stretch.
Thu., Jan. 28: The Lakers’ visit is typically one of the most-attended games of the season. No James, sure, but Luka Doncic & Company are always interesting.
Mon, Feb. 1: The new-look Heat, with Antetokounmpo, will be settled in to what they are by then. Are they for real? And it’ll air on Peacock.
Wed., Feb. 10: Speaking of whether they are for real or not, the Cavs will visit for a mid-week clash.
Tue., Mar. 2: It seems odd, but the Pacers won’t host the Celtics until the final stretch of the season. Then they’ll be back on March 30. But again, not on national TV.
Thu., Mar. 25: Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs with a late-season visit.
Fri., Apr. 9: The Cavs’ second time through and the final regular-season home game is fan appreciation night.
🐴 Overlapping With Colts
One thing I’ve consistently heard from fans is they do not like Sunday games during the NFL season. Especially Sunday home games. Because of that, I decided to add this new section for the upcoming season.
If you’re also a Colts fan, here’s what you need to know — starting with the Pacers having Colts games scheduled on six of 11 dates.
Oct. 25 at Brooklyn, 6 p.m.; Colts are in Minnesota at 1 p.m.
Nov. 1 v Brooklyn at 5 p.m.; Colts play in Jacksonville at 1 p.m.
Nov. 15 at Philadelphia at 1 p.m.; Colts host Miami at the same time.
Dec. 13 v Detroit at 5 p.m.; Colts are in Philly for a 1 p.m. ET kickoff.
Dec. 20 in LA to play the Clippers at 10 p.m.; Colts are in Tennessee earlier in the day, at 1 p.m.
Dec. 27 at Denver at 8 p.m.; Colts host Cincinnati, time TBA.
📆 Games by day
Sunday: 11
Monday: 14
Tuesday: 8
Wednesday: 15
Thursday: 12
Friday: 10
Saturday: 10
*Note: Two games will later be added, depending on NBA Cup results.
Full 2026-27 Pacers Schedule
