The 2024-25 North American Basketball League season will open on October 22 when the defending champion Boston Celtics will face New York, while the Los Angeles Lakers will host the Minnesota Wolves, according to the schedule revealed by the NBA on Thursday.
These meetings will mark the start of the NBA’s 79th regular season that ends on April 13, 2025.
Before dealing with KnicksTHE Celtics hoist the Massachusetts franchise’s 18th banner, equaling a record of NBA titles, with one more than their rivals from Lakers.
In another poster from the start of the season, the superstar LeBron Jamesthe leading scorer in NBA history, will begin his 22nd championship campaign when his Lakers host the Timberwolves in Rudy Gobert, voted the best defender of the season for the fourth time at the end of last season. The Minneapolis franchise is coming off the second-best season in history that ended in a Western Conference final, losing to dallas and its Slovenian leader Luka Doncic.
The NBA play-offs begin on April 19, after play-in (April 15-18). As for the best-of-seven final, it will begin on June 5.
Each team will play 82 regular season games, some of which will be determined based on the NBA Cup (“The In-Season Tournament”), the tournament that begins on November 12 and ends in December in Las Vegas.
Wembanyama on October 24
In one of the shocks of the second day of this campaign, the Philadelphia Sixers star Joel Embiid and Paul George welcome on October 23 the Milwaukee Bucks du Grec Giannis Antetokounmpo, while the Clippersanother franchise in Los Angeles, will play the first game in their history in their Intuit Dome hall, against Kevin Durant’s Phoenix Suns.
The reigning Western Conference champions, dallaswith his new recruit Clay Thompsonwill receive on October 24 the San Antonio Spurs from Frenchman Victor Wembanyamabest rookie last season, bolstered by star leader Chris Paul, who began his twentieth NBA campaign.
Five games are scheduled for Christmas Day: San Antonio to New York, Minnesota to Dallas, Lakers to Golden State, Philadelphia to Boston and Denver to Phoenix.
However, no game is planned for November 5, the day of the American presidential election, to encourage fans to vote.
Regarding transferred matches, Miami Deal Washington on November 2 in Mexico and a double confrontation between Spurs and Pacers will be held in Paris on January 23 and 25, 2025.
The traditional All-Star Game will be held on February 16 at the Chase Center in San Francisco.