Moving along through a dreadful August, NBA fans can see the light at the end of the tunnel. As the calendar is about to flip pages, we’re less than a month away from Media Day and training camp. That means the 2025-26 regular season is not too far ahead.

The NBA recently dropped its entire 2025-26 regular season schedule. The league found out when and where they’ll face their opponents during the six-month campaign. The Oklahoma City Thunder will enter the year as both the reigning NBA champion and the title favorite.

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Easy to see why, too. After all, they’ll bring back the same roster that had one of the greatest years ever with a 68-14 record and a Larry O’Brien trophy. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren all signed contract extensions this offseason.

It took a little longer than usual, but the NBA is fully on board with the Thunder being a main attraction. They’re tied with the Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors and New York Knicks for the most national television games during the 2025-26 regular season at 34.

A couple of those matchups will feature a possible 2026 NBA Finals preview. The Thunder and Knicks will square off twice in front of a national audience. Both will be part of a small group of teams that have a realistic shot at playing basketball in June, albeit the former more than the latter.

Both games will be late in the regular season. The Thunder will travel to the Knicks on Wednesday, Mar. 4. It will be shown on ESPN. In the same month, the OKC will host New York on Sunday, Mar. 29. It will be on NBC and Peacock.

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The NBA likely hopes the Thunder and Knicks advance to the NBA Finals. It almost happened this past year, before the Knicks fell short to the Indiana Pacers in the 2025 Eastern Conference Finals. Considering how relatively weak the East will be this upcoming season, this will likely be Jalen Brunson’s best shot to reach that stage.

Meanwhile, the Thunder should be a winning machine. They’ll run it back with mostly the same roster that had a historic 68-14 regular-season record and set the record for best point differential ever at plus-12.9. Until proven otherwise, they’ll be the favorite.

This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: 2025-26 regular season: Thunder-Knicks to play on national TV twice