Nets-Warriors And Lakers-Clippers On Opening Night Dec. 22, Five Christmas Day Games Highlight Start Of 2020-21 NBA Season

You can’t say the NBA doesn’t have a sense of humor.

The league announced that Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets will host Durant’s former team, the Golden State Warriors, as part of an opening-night doubleheader on TNT on Dec. 22. The game will tip at 7 p.m. E.T.

Durant, who signed a four-year, $164-million deal with the Nets, hasn’t played a game in 540 days, since injuring his Achilles in Game 5 of the NBA Finals in Toronto on June 10, 2019. Asked how he will feel when he plays a real game, Durant said Tuesday, “Who knows? I just got to see how I feel in a real NBA game.”

The Clippers will “visit” Lebron James and the reigning NBA champion Lakers, who retooled their roster in the offseason by adding several players, including former Clipper Montrezl Harrell. That game tips at 10 E.T.

The NBA also announced one game each on TNT and ESPN on Dec. 23, and five Christmas Day games across ESPN and ABC on Dec. 25.

The complete game schedule and broadcast schedules for TNT, ESPN, ABC, NBA TV and ESPN Radio for the First Half of the regular season (Dec. 22, 2020 – March 4, 2021) will be announced on Friday, Dec. 4.

On Dec. 23, Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks will visit Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics at 7:30 p.m. ET on TNT and Chris Paul and the Phoenix Suns will host Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks at 10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. The Suns-Mavericks matchup will tip off ESPN’s 19^th consecutive year of NBA coverage.

The NBA will feature five games on Christmas Day for the 13^th year in a row, with ESPN or ABC televising each matchup.

The 73^rd edition of the NBA on Christmas Day will begin on ESPN with Jimmy Butler and the defending Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat hosting Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans (12 p.m. ET). ABC’s coverage will start with Steph Curry and Warriors visiting the Bucks (2:30 p.m. ET), followed by the Celtics hosting the Nets (5 p.m. ET). Next, ABC and ESPN will both televise a matchup between the Lakers and Mavericks in Los Angeles (8 p.m. ET). The Christmas Day schedule will conclude on ESPN as the Clippers visit the Denver Nuggets (10:30 p.m. ET) in a rematch of a 2020 Western Conference Semifinals series.

Below is the national television schedule for the first three game days of the 2020-21 season.

Tuesday, Dec. 22: Opening Night

 Road Team Home Team Time (ET) Network

 Golden State Warriors Brooklyn Nets 7:00 p.m. TNT

 LA Clippers Lakers 10:00 p.m. TNT

Wednesday, Dec. 23

 Road Team Home Team Time (ET) Network

 Milwaukee Bucks Boston Celtics  7:30 p.m. TNT

 Dallas Mavericks  Phoenix Suns  10:30 p.m. ESPN

Friday, Dec. 25: Christmas Day

 Road Team Home Team Time (ET) Network

 New Orleans Pelicans Miami Heat.  12:00 p.m.  ESPN

 Golden State Warriors  Milwaukee Bucks 2:30 p.m. ABC

 Brooklyn Nets  Boston Celtics  5:00 p.m. ABC

 Dallas Mavericks.   Lakers 8:00 p.m. ABC/ESPN

 LA Clippers  Denver Nuggets. 10:30 p.m. ESPN