league-high 95%<\/a> of last season\u2019s minutes \u2013 as they look to run it back. Indiana ranks third in continuity (83%), but will be without two starters from last year\u2019s Finals team for this rematch \u2013 Tyrese Haliburton (recovering from a torn Achilles) and Myles Turner (signed with Milwaukee this summer).<\/p>\nTimberwolves at Lakers<\/p>\n
> Friday, Oct. 24 at 10 p.m. ET on Prime<\/p>\n
The first Friday night doubleheader on Prime Video features a 2025 First-Round Playoff rematch between the Wolves and Lakers \u2013 which Minnesota won in five games in its first step toward back-to-back runs to the Western Conference Finals.<\/p>\n
At the center of this matchup is L.A\u2019s Don\u010di\u0107 (28.2 ppg) and Minnesota\u2019s Anthony Edwards (27.6 ppg) \u2013 two of the game\u2019s most dynamic young scorers, who respectively finished fourth and fifth in scoring last season among players that played 50+ games. Their playoff history goes deeper than last year\u2019s Wolves-Lakers matchup as Minnesota\u2019s 2024 postseason was ended by Don\u010di\u0107 and the Mavs in the West Finals.<\/p>\n
Celtics at Sixers<\/p>\n
> Friday, Oct. 31 at 7 p.m. ET on Prime<\/p>\n
The 2025 Emirates NBA Cup tips off on Halloween with the opening night of Group Play on Prime Video with Boston visiting Philadelphia. How deep is the history between the Celtics and Sixers? No two teams have faced each other in more games \u2013 587 regular season and postseason combined, including a record 22 Playoff series. However, this is their first meeting in NBA Cup Group Play in the competition\u2019s three-year history.<\/p>\n
This game will offer an early-season glimpse of the new-look Celtics, who will be without Jayson Tatum (Achilles), Jrue Holiday (Portland) and Kristaps Porzi\u0146\u0123is (Atlanta) from their 2024 title team, but add a young scorer in Anfernee Simons. For the Sixers, how will the trio of Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey look after playing only 15 games together last season?<\/p>\n
Mavericks vs. Pistons<\/p>\n
> Saturday, Nov. 1 at 10 p.m. ET on Peacock<\/p>\n
The global reach of the NBA continues to grow with five preseason games and three regular-season games being played outside the United States this season. The first of those regular-season games features the Mavs and Pistons in Mexico City, marking the 34th NBA game (regular season and preseason combined) played in Mexico since 1992 \u2013 more than any country outside the U.S. and Canada.<\/p>\n
This matchup features a number of established stars \u2013 Dallas\u2019 Anthony Davis, Klay Thompson and Kyrie Irving (currently injured) have a combined 23 All-Star appearances and six championships between them \u2013 and rising stars such as Detroit\u2019s Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren and Jaden Ivey as well as Dallas\u2019 Cooper Flagg as this year\u2019s No. 1 overall pick plays in his first international NBA game.<\/p>\n
Detroit is coming off one of the biggest single-season turnarounds in NBA history, increasing their win total by 30 from the previous season and making its first playoff appearance since 2019. Dallas begins a new era with Flagg\u2019s arrival coinciding with the first full season with AD as a Maverick.<\/p>\n
Bucks at Knicks<\/p>\n
> Friday, Nov. 28 at 7:30 p.m. ET on Prime<\/p>\n
The final night of Group Play in the 2025 Emirates NBA Cup features last year\u2019s Cup champions \u2013 the Milwaukee Bucks \u2013 visiting the Knicks in an East Group C matchup featuring the only two teams that swept Group Play (4-0) last season.<\/p>\n
Last season, the NBA Cup was a catalyst for Milwaukee\u2019s in-season turnaround. Just 2-8 through 10 games, the Bucks went a perfect 7-0 in the NBA Cup \u2013 remaining unbeaten in Group Play in the event\u2019s history, rolling through the single-elimination quarters and semis before defeating the eventual NBA champion Thunder to win the Cup.<\/p>\n
New York\u2019s only Group Play loss in the event\u2019s history came in 2023 at the hands of the Bucks. Can the Knicks avenge that loss and hurt Milwaukee\u2019s hopes of repeating as champs?<\/p>\n
Cavaliers at Knicks<\/p>\n
> Thursday, Dec. 25 at Noon ET on ABC\/ESPN<\/p>\n
For the 18th straight year, the NBA on Christmas Day will feature a five-game slate of holiday hoops. And for a record-extending 58th time, the Knicks will play on Christmas Day as they host the Cavs in a showdown of top-3 teams in the East last season.<\/p>\n
The spotlight will shine on the matchup of All-Star guards between Cleveland\u2019s Donovan Mitchell and New York\u2019s Jalen Brunson. Last season, Mitchell (24.0 ppg) led the Cavs to an East-leading 64 wins, while Brunson (212 clutch pts, regular season and postseason combined) was named Kia Clutch Player of the Year.<\/p>\n
However, both teams fell short of reaching the NBA Finals after falling to the Indiana Pacers \u2013 Cleveland in the East Semis in five, New York in the East Finals in six. Which of these two East contenders can make a Christmas Day statement with a win?<\/p>\n
Timberwolves at Nuggets<\/p>\n
> Thursday, Dec. 25 at 10:30 p.m. ET on ABC\/ESPN<\/p>\n
The Christmas Day slate ends in Denver, where Nikola Joki\u0107 and the Nuggets host Edwards and the Wolves in a budding rivalry that took shape in a seven-game series in the 2024 West Semifinals, which was won by Minnesota in the Mile High City.<\/p>\n
The Wolves won the final two games of that series and swept last season\u2019s regular-season series, pushing their head-to-head win streak over the Nuggets to six straight with a double-overtime win on April 1 that was an instant classic. Behind Edwards\u2019 34 points and matching 26-pieces from Julius Randle and Nickeil Alexander-Walker (now in Atlanta), the Wolves overcame the highest-scoring triple-double in NBA history as Joki\u0107 dropped a 61-10-10 game in the loss.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LeBron James and Stephen Curry face off for the 57th time when L.A. hosts Golden State in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":69688,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[55080,64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-69687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-2025-26-must-see-games","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69687\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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