What have you been doing to celebrate schedule release week?
Did you get up early to watch the twin reveals of some (but not all) of the national TV matchups on Tuesday, on Good Morning America and The Today Show? How did you pick which one to watch? Did you put them on multi-view mode? Did you watch one live and DVR the other? Did you avoid social media to prevent it getting spoiled? Did you spend the following morning refreshing your browser to get the Emirates NBA Cup™️ group play schedule the minute it was posted?
You have to do it big for the NBA's multi-day reveal of the dates and matchups for the 82 games every team will play between October and April. Maybe next year there will be alt-casts offered, so you can get instant reactions from popular YouTubers and social media personalities. With even more broadcast partners involved in the league's new media-rights deal, the possibilities are endless.
As I say every year, the staggered rollout of the schedule is the NBA's equivalent of the "all-hands meeting that could have been an email."
Here's that email, at least as it relates to the Trail Blazers.
Takeaways and notable games
In each of the last two years, the Blazers only had one nationally televised game, and both years that game featured Damian Lillard playing in Portland with the Bucks. Obviously, Lillard a) is back with the Blazers now, and b) probably isn't going to play at all this year. So the game against Milwaukee isn't going to be on national TV, but eight other Blazers games are.
The way those eight games break down: six on NBC, one on Peacock and one on Amazon Prime (none on ESPN/ABC). It's the most national games the Blazers have had since the 2021-22 season, when they had nine.
The Blazers open the season on Wednesday, Oct. 22 at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves. If 5.2 million fans in China reportedly watched one of Yang Hansen's Summer League games on CCTV, I would have to think the number will be at least double that for his proper NBA debut.
The Blazers were placed in Western Conference Group "C" for this year's Emirates NBA Cup™️, and it's a pretty brutal draw for them. They have what most think are the two best non-Thunder teams in the Western Conference (Houston and Denver), plus Golden State and San Antonio.
There's a gap in the schedule from Dec. 9-15 where every team that doesn't qualify for the knockout rounds of the Emirates NBA Cup™️ will have two games, one at home and one on the road. We won't know the dates or opponents for those games until after group play wraps up at the end of November. It's not always possible depending on who advances in the tournament, but the league prefers to schedule those games between teams in the same conference that only play each other three times during the regular schedule. The west teams the Blazers only visit once are the Lakers, Mavericks and Suns, and the teams that come to Portland one time are the Warriors, Spurs and Pelicans. So the makeup games will most likely feature some combination of those teams.
The Boston Celtics come to Portland on Dec. 28. Assuming Anfernee Simons isn't traded somewhere else by then, it will be his first game at Moda Center as a visiting player. The reception won't be close to what Lillard or C.J. McCollum got, but it still should be pretty solid cheers.
We say this every year, but your last chances to see LeBron James play in person in Portland could be when the Lakers come to town on Nov. 3 and Jan. 17. (Maybe.)
Lebron is 30, this fuckery won't go on for much longer, thank god
The Blazers have 14 back-to-backs this year: eight road-road, four home-home, one home-road and one road-home. That's one more back-to-back than the 13 they had last season. The tradeoff is that one of this year's road back-to-backs features two games in Los Angeles, one against the Clippers and one against the Lakers, so there isn't any extra travel involved there.
The longest road trip of the year is five games, which happens three different times. Out of these, the toughest one opponent-wise is the first one, in early November, where they travel to Miami, Orlando, New Orleans, Houston and Dallas. They've had seven-game road trips each of the last two seasons, so not having one longer than five is a win.
Five games is also the length of their longest homestand of the season. They have two of those, one in late December and one in early February.
The Blazers’ full 2025-26 schedule is below, broken out by month (all times Pacific). All games will air on Rip City Radio (KPOJ-AM 620), on TV locally on KUNP/Rip City Television Network, and will be available to stream in-market via the BlazerVision streaming package unless otherwise noted.
Preseason
✈️ Wednesday, Oct. 8: at Golden State Warriors (7 p.m., Chase Center) 🏠 Friday, Oct, 10: vs. Sacramento Kings (7 p.m., Moda Center) 🏠 Tuesday, Oct. 14: vs. Golden State Warriors (7 p.m., Moda Center) ✈️ Thursday, Oct. 16: at Utah Jazz (6 p.m., Delta Center)
October 2025
🏠 Wednesday, Oct. 22: vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (7 p.m., Moda Center) 🏠 Friday, Oct. 24: vs. Golden State Warriors (7 p.m., Moda Center) ✈️ Sunday, Oct. 26: at L.A. Clippers (6 p.m., Intuit Dome) ✈️ Monday, Oct. 27: at Los Angeles Lakers (7:30 p.m., Crypto.com Arena) ✈️ Wednesday, Oct. 29: at Utah Jazz (6 p.m., Delta Center) 🏆 Friday, Oct. 31: vs. Denver Nuggets (7 p.m., Moda Center)
November 2025
🏠 Monday, Nov. 3: vs. Los Angeles Lakers (7 p.m., Moda Center) 🏠 Wednesday, Nov. 5: vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (7 p.m., Moda Center) ✈️ Saturday, Nov. 8: at Miami Heat (5 p.m., Kaseya Center) ✈️ Monday, Nov. 10: at Orlando Magic (4 p.m., Kia Center) ✈️ Wednesday, Nov. 12: at New Orleans Pelicans (5 p.m., Smoothie King Center) 🏆 Friday, Nov. 14: at Houston Rockets (5 p.m., Toyota Center) ✈️ Sunday, Nov. 16: at Dallas Mavericks (4:30 p.m., American Airlines Center) 📺 Tuesday, Nov. 18: vs. Phoenix Suns (8 p.m., Moda Center, NBC) 🏠 Wednesday, Nov. 19: vs. Chicago Bulls (7 p.m., Moda Center) 🏆 Friday, Nov. 21: at Golden State Warriors (7 p.m., Chase Center) ✈️ Sunday, Nov. 23: at Oklahoma City Thunder (4 p.m., Paycom Center) ✈️ Monday, Nov. 24: at Milwaukee Bucks (5 p.m., Fiserv Forum) 🏆 Wednesday, Nov. 26: vs. San Antonio Spurs (7 p.m., Moda Center) 🏠 Sunday, Nov. 30: vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (3 p.m., Moda Center)
December 2025
✈️ Tuesday, Dec. 2: at Toronto Raptors (4:30 p.m., Scotiabank Arena) ✈️ Wednesday, Dec. 3: at Cleveland Cavaliers (4 p.m., Rocket Arena) ✈️ Friday, Dec. 5: at Detroit Pistons (4:30 p.m., Little Ceasars Arena) ✈️ Sunday, Dec. 7: at Memphis Grizzlies (3 p.m., FedEx Forum) 🏆 Tuesday, Dec. 9-Monday, Dec. 15: Emirates NBA Cup™️ knockout rounds and consolation games (Dates and matchups TBD) 🏆 Saturday, Dec. 13-Tuesday, Dec. 16: Emirates NBA Cup™️ semifinals and championship game (T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Amazon Prime) 🏠 Thursday, Dec. 18: vs. Sacramento Kings (7 p.m., Moda Center) ✈️ Saturday, Dec. 20: at Sacramento Kings (7 p.m., Golden 1 Center) 🏠 Monday, Dec. 22: vs. Detroit Pistons (7 p.m., Moda Center) 🏠 Tuesday, Dec. 23: vs. Orlando Magic (7 p.m., Moda Center 📺 Friday, Dec. 26: vs. L.A. Clippers (7 p.m., Moda Center, Amazon Prime) 🏠 Sunday, Dec. 28: vs. Boston Celtics (3 p.m., Moda Center) 📺 Monday, Dec. 29: vs. Dallas Mavericks (8 p.m., Moda Center, NBC) ✈️ Wednesday, Dec. 31: at Oklahoma City Thunder (5 p.m., Paycom Center)
January 2026
✈️ Friday, Jan. 2: at New Orleans Pelicans (5 p.m., Smoothie King Center) ✈️ Saturday, Jan. 3: at San Antonio Spurs (5 p.m., Frost Bank Center) 🏠 Monday, Jan. 5: vs. Utah Jazz (7 p.m., Moda Center) 🏠 Wednesday, Jan. 7: vs. Houston Rockets (7 p.m., Moda Center) 🏠 Friday, Jan. 9: vs. Houston Rockets (7 p.m., Moda Center) 🏠 Sunday, Jan. 11: vs. New York Knicks (3 p.m., Moda Center) 📺 Tuesday, Jan. 13: at Golden State Warriors (8 p.m., Chase Center, NBC) 🏠 Thursday, Jan. 15: vs. Atlanta Hawks (7 p.m., Moda Center) 🏠 Saturday, Jan. 17: vs. Los Angeles Lakers (7 p.m., Moda Center) ✈️ Sunday, Jan. 18: at Sacramento Kings (6 p.m., Golden 1 Center) 🏠 Thursday, Jan. 22: vs. Miami Heat (7 p.m., Moda Center) 🏠 Friday, Jan. 23: vs. Toronto Raptors (7 p.m., Moda Center) 📺 Monday, Jan. 26: at Boston Celtics (5 p.m., TD Garden, Peacock) ✈️ Tuesday, Jan. 27: at Washington Wizards (4 p.m., CapitalOne Arena) ✈️ Friday, Jan. 30: at New York Knicks (4:30 p.m., Madison Square Garden)
February 2026
🏠 Sunday, Feb. 1: vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (6 p.m., Moda Center) 📺 Tuesday, Feb. 3: vs. Phoenix Suns (8 p.m., Moda Center, NBC) 🏠 Friday, Feb. 6: vs. Memphis Grizzlies (7 p.m., Moda Center) 🏠 Saturday, Feb. 7: vs. Memphis Grizzlies (7 p.m., Moda Center) 🏠 Monday, Feb. 9: vs. Philadelphia 76ers (7 p.m., Moda Center) ✈️ Wednesday, Feb. 11: at Minnesota Timberwolves (5 p.m., Target Center) ✈️ Thursday, Feb. 12: at Utah Jazz (6 p.m., Delta Center) ⭐️ Friday, Feb. 13-Sunday, Feb. 15: NBA All-Star Weekend (Intuit Dome, Inglewood, Calif., NBC) 🏠 Friday, Feb. 20: vs. Denver Nuggets (7 p.m., Moda Center) ✈️ Sunday, Feb. 22: at Phoenix Suns (5 p.m., PHX Arena) 📺 Tuesday, Feb. 24: vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (8 p.m., Moda Center, NBC) ✈️ Thursday, Feb. 26: at Chicago Bulls (5 p.m., United Center) ✈️ Saturday, Feb. 28: at Charlotte Hornets (10 a.m., Spectrum Center)
March 2026
✈️ Sunday, Mar. 1: at Atlanta Hawks (3 p.m., State Farm Arena) ✈️ Wednesday, Mar. 4: at Memphis Grizzlies (5 p.m., FedEx Forum) ✈️ Friday, Mar. 6: at Houston Rockets (5 p.m., Toyota Center) 🏠 Sunday, Mar. 8: vs. Indiana Pacers (6 p.m., Moda Center) 🏠 Tuesday, Mar. 10: vs. Charlotte Hornets (7 p.m., Moda Center) 🏠 Friday, Mar. 13: vs. Utah Jazz (7 p.m., Moda Center) ✈️ Sunday, Mar. 15: at Philadelphia 76ers (3 p.m., Wells Fargo Center) ✈️ Monday, Mar. 16: at Brooklyn Nets (4:30 p.m., Barclays Center) ✈️ Wednesday, Mar. 18: at Indiana Pacers (4:30 p.m., Gainbridge Fieldhouse) ✈️ Friday, Mar. 20: at Minnesota Timberwolves (5 p.m., Target Center) ✈️ Sunday, Mar. 22: at Denver Nuggets (2 p.m., Ball Arena) 🏠 Monday, Mar. 23: vs. Brooklyn Nets (7 p.m., Moda Center) 🏠 Wednesday, Mar. 25: vs. Milwaukee Bucks (7 p.m., Moda Center) 🏠 Friday, Mar. 27: vs. Dallas Mavericks (7 p.m., Moda Center) 🏠 Sunday, Mar. 29: vs. Washington Wizards (3 p.m., Moda Center) 📺 Tuesday, Mar. 31: at L.A. Clippers (8 p.m., Intuit Dome, NBC)
April 2026
🏠 Thursday, Apr. 2: vs. New Orleans Pelicans (7 p.m., Moda Center) ✈️ Monday, Apr. 6: at Denver Nuggets (6 p.m., Ball Arena) ✈️ Wednesday, Apr. 8: at San Antonio Spurs (5 p.m., Frost Bank Center) 🏠 Friday, Apr. 10: vs. L.A. Clippers (7 p.m., Moda Center) 🏠 Sunday, Apr. 12: vs. Sacramento Kings (5:30 p.m., Moda Center)
🏠 Home game ✈️ Road game 📺 Nationally televised game 🏆 Emirates NBA Cup™️ matchup
