Opening Night\/Home Opener – 10\/22 vs. CLE<\/p>\n
CLEVELAND, OHIO – APRIL 02: Darius Garland #10 of the Cleveland Cavaliers is fouled by Josh Hart #3 of the New York Knicks during the second quarter at Rocket Arena on April 02, 2025 in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jason Miller\/Getty Images) Getty Images<\/p>\n The Knicks will open the 2025-26 regular season against the reigning No. 1 seed Cleveland Cavaliers. Both meetings between the two leading contenders for the Eastern Conference at MSG will be on national television, as the two teams will reconvene on Christmas Day. Good early litmus test, hopefully it goes better than last year.<\/a><\/p>\n Holidays – 10\/31 @ CHI, 12\/25 vs. CLE, 12\/31 @ SAS, 1\/19 vs. DAL, 3\/17 vs. IND<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve got kids, be sure to keep your go-to mobile app for Knicks basketball handy, as the Knicks open up group play in Chicago while you\u2019re likely out trick-or-treating. As usual, the team will be playing at the World\u2019s Most Famous Arena on Christmas Day, but they\u2019ll also be heading out to Texas on New Year\u2019s Eve as a nice segue into your New Year\u2019s plans. They get Cooper Flagg\u2019s first trip to MSG on MLK Day and a rematch of the Eastern Conference Finals in New York against the Pacers on St. Patty\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n Longest Homestand – 7 games in early November<\/p>\n After the Halloween road game in Chicago, the Knicks will play a seven-game homestand, their longest since another seven-gamer in January 2014. Most of these games will be on MSG, a rarity considering the team is tied for the league lead<\/a> in nationally televised broadcasts.<\/p>\n Longest Road Trip – Two 5-gamers<\/p>\n Immediately after that seven-game homestand, the team will play five consecutive games on the road, although four are on the East Coast. Whose idea was this? The other five-game trip will be the annual West Coast swing in March that sees the team go from Denver to Los Angeles to Utah to Indiana in eight days. Not great!<\/p>\n Oh yeah, the Knicks will be on the road a lot in the back half of the season. 30 of their last 52 games are on the road. From February 6 to March 13, they play 12 of 18 on the road.<\/p>\n NBA Cup – 10\/31 @ CHI, 11\/14 vs. MIA, 11\/26 @ CHA, 11\/28 vs. MIL<\/p>\n MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – MARCH 28: Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks dribbles the ball against OG Anunoby #8 of the New York Knicks during the second quarter at Fiserv Forum on March 28, 2025 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Patrick McDermott\/Getty Images) Getty Images<\/p>\n The Knicks are one of two teams (Bucks) to advance to the knockout round in both years of the NBA Cup and will look to make it 3-for-3 this year, hoping to make it to Vegas for the first time. If they stay healthy and play to their talent, they should make it out of Group C. They\u2019ll be favorites to beat the Bulls and Heat, and will get ample opportunity to drive up the point differential column in Charlotte (which they didn\u2019t do last year<\/a>). That Bucks game will be the difference on Black Friday.<\/p>\n If they move on, you know the drill. They will play on December 9 or 10 in the quarterfinals before hoping to make it to Vegas and play on 12\/13 or 12\/16. If they miss the knockout round (or lose in the quarterfinal), they can play on 12\/11, 12\/12, 12\/14, or 12\/15.<\/p>\n Only 12 sets of back-to-backs this year! That\u2019s the second-least in basketball. Other teams were not so fortunate,<\/a> including the load-managing Sixers (16).<\/p>\n Of the back-to-back sets, they\u2019ll have four sets where they don\u2019t have to hop on a plane, including the yearly double dip in Los Angeles in March. They also play their final back-to-back in mid-March, giving them plenty of rest down the stretch. Here are some of the tougher B2Bs on the schedule:<\/p>\n 12\/18 @ Indiana – 12\/19 vs. Philadelphia<\/p>\n 1\/14 @ Sacramento – 1\/15 @ Golden State (they head back to MSG on 1\/17, fyi)<\/p>\n 1\/27 vs. Sacramento – 1\/28 @ Toronto<\/p>\n 2\/21 vs. Houston – 2\/22 @ Chicago<\/p>\n 3\/17 vs. Indiana – 3\/18 @ Memphis<\/p>\n Rejoice, there are only three games all season that start at 10:00 and zero that start later. Considering Peacock is doing 11:00 games on Tuesdays,<\/a> we\u2019re very fortunate. Here are all the start times past 9:00, which is where you\u2019re likely to be watching the Knickerbockers past midnight:<\/p>\n 11\/19 @ Dallas (9:30, ESPN)<\/p>\n 1\/14 @ Sacramento (10:00)<\/p>\n 1\/15 @ Golden State (10:00, Prime Video)<\/p>\n 3\/9 @ LA Clippers (10:00, Peacock)<\/p>\n The latest start time at MSG this year will be an 8:30 tip on February 21st against the Rockets.<\/p>\n NEW YORK, NY – FEBRUARY 1: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers looks on during the game against the New York Knicks on February 1, 2025 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2025 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler\/NBAE via Getty Images) NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n 10\/28 @ Milwaukee – This is the first NBC broadcast of the season for the Knicks. When was the last time the Knicks played on NBC? March 10, 2002,<\/a> against the Lakers in Tinseltown, where Latrell Sprewell dropped 31 in a losing effort to Kobe and Shaq. The team will debut on Amazon Prime four days prior against the Celtics and will play their first-ever Peacock exclusive game on January 5th against the Pistons.<\/p>\n 11\/5 vs. Minnesota – Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo return to the Garden for the second (official) time since the blockbuster that brought Karl-Anthony Towns to New York. Anthony Edwards dominated the meeting in MSG last year. What\u2019s next for an encore? (Note: KAT returns to Minnesota on 12\/23)<\/p>\n 1\/5 @ Detroit: – The Knicks went 3-0 in the Motor City in the playoffs last year, and this is their first meeting of 2025-26. Have the young, feisty Pistons grown up to be more formidable or will they remain the ankle-biting pests they were last year?<\/p>\n 1\/9 @ Phoenix – Nothing is notable about this. All I wanted to tell you is that Jalen Brunson owns the city of Phoenix for some reason.<\/a><\/p>\n 1\/14 @ Sacramento – Newly minted head coach Mike Brown returns to the place he got fired after a substandard start to 2024-25. How will the Knicks look in this game?<\/p>\n 2\/1 vs. LA Lakers – Last year, the Knicks and Lakers finished up their February 1st game at MSG an hour before Luka Doncic arrived in the purple and gold. This year, it could be LeBron James\u2019 final game at the World\u2019s Most Famous Arena if the 40-year-old elects to retire at the end of the season. It\u2019s a shame he never got to play 41 games here, he sure seems to love the arena.<\/a><\/p>\n 3\/15 vs. Golden State – Stephen Curry has not lost at MSG since his breakout performance<\/a> in 2013. With many iconic moments here, let\u2019s hope that we finally have his number.<\/p>\n 3\/29 @ Oklahoma City – After a March 18th meeting with the Grizzlies, the Knicks have an easy schedule over their last 11 games. Two of their most difficult matchups come on a road trip through the reigning champions and H-Town to close March. This will be their final big test before the playoffs.<\/p>\n 4\/12 vs. Charlotte – Game 82 was peaceful<\/a> and full of Landry Shamet and Kevin McCullar Jr. hoops last year. The year before, the Knicks played overtime to secure the No. 2 seed. What will we get this year?<\/p>\n![\"CLEVELAND,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/gettyimages-2208204510.jpg\"\/)
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