NBA unveils 2026-27 schedule, highlighting top rivalries
The league’s new schedule features multiple matchups identified as the season’s most compelling rivalries, ranging from historic East Coast feuds to emerging Western Conference battles.
The NBA released its 2026-27 regular-season schedule, and analysts have ranked the ten most notable rivalries that will shape the year. The list includes both long-standing matchups and newer contests that have gained intensity through recent playoff series.
The New York Knicks will meet the Miami Heat three times, recalling their early-2000s playoff battles and a recent second-round series in 2023 that sent Miami to the Finals. The Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors, who faced each other in several Western Conference Finals, are slated for four games, though the Warriors’ core has begun to age.
Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers will clash three times, a rivalry intensified by Luka Dončić’s trade to Dallas and the Lakers’ rebuilding efforts. Boston Celtics and Miami Heat, the defining Eastern Conference rivalry of the 2020s, have three meetings, including a Christmas Day game.
The Knicks also face the Indiana Pacers three times, a series highlighted by Tyrese Haliburton’s buzzer-beater in the 2025 Eastern Conference Finals. The historic Celtics-Lakers rivalry returns with two games, while the Celtics-Philadelphia 76ers will meet four times after a high-profile trade involving Jaylen Brown.
In the West, Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves are scheduled for four contests, reflecting recent playoff upsets that have kept the series competitive. The New York Knicks-San Antonio Spurs will meet twice, following a dramatic 2026 Finals that featured Victor Wembanyama’s emergence.
At the top of the list, the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs have three games, highlighted by a Game 7 Western Conference Finals victory for the Spurs in 2026 and a personal rivalry between MVP candidates Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Victor Wembanyama.
These matchups are expected to draw heightened fan interest and could influence playoff positioning as the season progresses.