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Every August, the NBA's schedule-release rollout gets more and more elaborate. This year, there were three full days of content on their partner networks: one day to reveal the opening-week and Christmas slates, one day for the Emirates NBA Cup™️ group play schedule and then, finally, the whole thing.
The content game is rough this time of year, I get it. But the entire thing still could have been an email, and now it is.
Like the other 29 teams, the Trail Blazers released their full schedule on Thursday for the 2026-27 regular season. Here it is, broken out by month, along with some takeaways and observations.
Another note: I'm still figuring out my travel schedule, but I do expect to do a good amount of road games once again this season. The more of you become paid subscribers, the more of it I can do. With some of the changes that have gone on within the organization since the sale closed and with some of the outlets that cover them in recent years, there may be even less traveling media than there is normally. I want to be around as much as possible, but it's not cheap to do that.
This is an absolutely terrible schedule for the Blazers. There's no other way to put it. They always have a difficult schedule travel-wise because of how geographically isolated Portland is from the rest of the NBA, and there's nothing anyone can do about that (the Seattle expansion team can't come soon enough), but this is the worst one I can remember. Just about every part of it is bad.
The Blazers play 12 of their first 17 games on the road and have not one but two six-game road trips before the end of the calendar year (including one during the Christmas holiday that ends with a Washington-Detroit back-to-back), and another five-gamer in mid-January. They're on the road during the trade deadline and play the Thursday night before the All-Star break. Two different times, they come home from a four-game road trip to play the second night of a back-to-back at home. Their last two games of the season are on the road.
The pre-Christmas schedule alone includes two games each against the Spurs, Thunder, Timberwolves and Nuggets, plus the Knicks, Celtics and Sixers.
It would have been great if they'd gotten a schedule this brutal during one of the rebuilding years when it wouldn't have been a bad thing to lose a lot. Getting this schedule now that they're actually trying to win is not ideal. If they're even close to .500 by the end of the calendar year, they're in great shape.
The only redeeming thing about this schedule: the NBA gave the Blazers a home game for their season opener, against Phoenix on Oct. 21. That means Damian Lillard's first official game in a Trail Blazers uniform in 1,309 days will be in front of what's going to be the loudest Moda Center crowd since the 2019 Western Conference Finals run. Or at least since Lillard's return game with Milwaukee in 2024.
For the first time since I can remember, Portland gets to be on the other side of the "superstar playing against his former team for the first time" game with Ja Morant. The Grizzlies come to Portland very early on in the season, and the Blazers visit Memphis for a "baseball series," with two games at FedExForum on Feb. 6 and 8. Despite how badly things ended between Morant and the Grizzlies organization, he is still beloved by that fanbase and city, so he should get a similar response to the one Lillard got here when he first visited the Bucks.
The coaching version of that: Micah Nori makes his return to Minnesota, where he was Chris Finch's lead assistant with the Timberwolves for the past five seasons, for back-to-back games on Nov. 16 and 17. The Bulls, now coached by Tiago Splitter, play in Portland on Feb. 14.
The first of Morant's two homecoming games in Memphis on Feb. 6 will air on Prime Video. That's one of 11 nationally televised games the Blazers have, up from eight last season. The breakdown: seven on NBC/Peacock, two on Prime Video and two on ESPN.
LeBron James and the Sixers' only appearance in Portland will be on March 26. He signed a two-year deal in Philadelphia, so this likely isn't your last chance to see him in Portland, but you never know. It remains to be seen how many regular-season games the 41-year-old James will play as he focuses on being fresh for the playoffs, but he usually makes sure to play in Portland because a lot of Nike people go to his games here. The Sixers also signed three former Blazers this summer in Anfernee Simons, Rayan Rupert and Caleb Love, and still have Jabari Walker on the roster.
The Blazers are in West Group C for this year's Emirates NBA Cup™️. Their draw: San Antonio, the Lakers, Golden State and Sacramento. Outside of the Spurs, pretty winnable group of games.
There's a one-week gap in the schedule from Dec. 4-11, which is when every team that doesn't qualify for the knockout rounds of the Emirates NBA Cup™️ will play two schedule makeup 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. Whenever possible, 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 New Orleans Pelicans and Houston Rockets, and the teams that come to Portland one time are the Memphis Grizzlies, Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns. So the makeup games would most likely feature some combination of those teams.
A couple of changes to the Emirates NBA Cup™️ format this year: the semifinal games for each conference will now be played in the home city of the higher seed, rather than at a neutral site like the final. And the championship game, after three years in Las Vegas, is now going to be moved around to college arenas as the NBA tries different gimmicks to build "mystique" and "stakes" for one of Adam Silver's pet projects. This year, the game will be held in Indianapolis at Butler University's Hinkle Fieldhouse on Dec. 11.
By the way, if the Blazers do make it to the Emirates NBA Cup™️ championship game on Dec. 11, their reward will be flying back to Portland from Indianapolis to play a game the following night against the Hawks, on Dec. 12. Congrats on winning the tournament, here's a schedule loss waiting for you back home.
Portland has 13 back-to-backs, slightly down from 14 last year. The way they break out: six of the back-to-backs are home-home, five are road-road and two are road-home.
There's also a home-road back-to-back in the preseason, which is outrageous. Teams typically control their own preseason schedules, so that was a choice. Not sure what the thinking was there.
The Blazers’ full 2026-27 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.
🏠 Wednesday, Oct. 7: vs. Golden State Warriors (7 p.m., Moda Center) 🏠 Monday, Oct. 12: vs. London Lions (1 p.m., Moda Center) ✈️ Tuesday, Oct. 13: at Sacramento Kings (7 p.m., Golden 1 Center) ✈️ Friday, Oct. 16: at Golden State Warriors (7 p.m., Chase Center)
October 2026
🏠 Wednesday, Oct. 21: vs. Phoenix Suns (7 p.m., Moda Center) ✈️ Friday, Oct. 23: at Sacramento Kings (7 p.m., Golden 1 Center) 📺 Tuesday, Oct. 27: at Los Angeles Lakers (8 p.m., Crypto.com Arena, NBC) 🏠 Thursday, Oct. 29: vs. Memphis Grizzlies (7 p.m., Moda Center) ✈️ Saturday, Oct. 31: at Utah Jazz (12 p.m., Delta Center)
November 2026
✈️ Monday, Nov. 2: at Denver Nuggets (6 p.m., Ball Arena) ✈️ Wednesday, Nov. 4: at Phoenix Suns (6 p.m., Mortgage Matchup Center) 🏆 Friday, Nov. 6: at Los Angeles Lakers (7 p.m., Crypto.com Arena, Prime Video) 🏠 Saturday, Nov. 7: vs. San Antonio Spurs (7 p.m., Moda Center) 📺 Tuesday, Nov. 10: vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (8 p.m., Moda Center, NBC) 🏠 Wednesday, Nov. 11: vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (7 p.m., Moda Center) 🏆 Friday, Nov. 13: at Sacramento Kings (7 p.m., Golden 1 Center) ✈️ Monday, Nov. 16: at Minnesota Timberwolves (5 p.m., Target Center) ✈️ Tuesday, Nov. 17: at Minnesota Timberwolves (5 p.m., Target Center) ✈️ Thursday, Nov. 19: at Milwaukee Bucks (5 p.m., Fiserv Forum) ✈️ Saturday, Nov. 21: at New York Knicks (4:30 p.m., Madison Square Garden) ✈️ Monday, Nov. 23: at Philadelphia 76ers (4 p.m., Xfinity Mobile Center) 🏆 Wednesday, Nov. 25: vs. San Antonio Spurs (7 p.m., Moda Center, ESPN) 🏆 Friday, Nov. 27: vs. Golden State Warriors (6:30 p.m., Moda Center) 🏠 Sunday, Nov. 29: vs. New Orleans Pelicans (3 p.m., Moda Center)
December 2026
🏠 Tuesday, Dec. 1: vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (7 p.m., Moda Center) 🏠 Thursday, Dec. 3: vs. Utah Jazz (7 p.m., Moda Center) 🏆 Friday, Dec. 4-Thursday, Dec. 10: Emirates NBA Cup™️ knockout games or makeup regular-season games (dates and matchups TBD) 🏆 Friday, Dec. 11: Emirates NBA Cup™️ championship game (Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Prime video) 🏠 Saturday, Dec. 12: vs. Atlanta Hawks (7 p.m., Moda Center) 📺 Tuesday, Dec. 15: vs. Denver Nuggets (8 p.m., NBC) ✈️ Thursday, Dec. 17: at Indiana Pacers (4 p.m., Gainbridge Fieldhouse) ✈️ Saturday, Dec. 19: at Charlotte Hornets (3 p.m., Spectrum Center) ✈️ Monday, Dec. 21: at Brooklyn Nets (4:30 p.m., Barclays Center) ✈️ Wednesday, Dec. 23: at Boston Celtics (4:30 p.m., TD Garden) ✈️ Saturday, Dec. 26: at Washington Wizards (10 a.m., CapitalOne Arena) ✈️ Sunday, Dec. 27: at Detroit Pistons (4 p.m., Little Caesars Arena) 🏠 Tuesday, Dec. 29: vs. Brooklyn Nets (7 p.m., Moda Center)
January 2027
🏠 Saturday, Jan. 2: vs. Boston Celtics (7 p.m., Moda Center) 🏠 Monday, Jan. 4: vs. New York Knicks (7 p.m., Moda Center) ✈️ Wednesday, Jan. 6: at New Orleans Pelicans (5 p.m., Smoothie King Center) ✈️ Thursday, Jan. 7: at Dallas Mavericks (5 p.m., American Airlines Center) 🏠 Saturday, Jan. 9: vs. Charlotte Hornets (7 p.m., Moda Center) 🏠 Tuesday, Jan. 12: vs. Orlando Magic (7 p.m., Moda Center) 🏠 Wednesday, Jan. 13: vs. Los Angeles Lakers (7 p.m., Moda Center) 🏠 Friday, Jan. 15: vs. Sacramento Kings (7 p.m., Moda Center) ✈️ Sunday, Jan. 17: at Oklahoma City Thunder (12:30 p.m., Paycom Center ✈️ Tuesday, Jan. 19: at Miami Heat (4:30 p.m., Kaseya Center) ✈️ Wednesday, Jan. 20: at Atlanta Hawks (4 p.m., State Farm Arena) ✈️ Friday, Jan. 22: at Orlando Magic (4 p.m., KIA Center) ✈️ Sunday, Jan. 24: at San Antonio Spurs (12:30 p.m., Frost Bank Center) 🏠 Tuesday, Jan. 26: vs. Washington Wizards (7 p.m., Moda Center) 🏠 Wednesday, Jan. 27: vs. Golden State Warriors (7 p.m., Moda Center) ✈️ Sunday, Jan. 31: at Denver Nuggets (5 p.m., Ball Arena)
February 2027
📺 Tuesday, Feb. 2: vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (8 p.m., Moda Center, NBC) 🏠 Thursday, Feb. 4: vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (7 p.m., Moda Center) 📺 Saturday, Feb. 6: at Memphis Grizzlies (2:30 p.m., FedEx Forum, Prime Video) ✈️ Monday, Feb. 8: at Memphis Grizzlies (5 p.m., FedEx Forum) ✈️ Tuesday, Feb. 9: at Oklahoma City Thunder (5 p.m., Paycom Center) ✈️ Thursday, Feb. 11: at Dallas Mavericks (5 p.m., American Airlines Center) 🏠 Saturday, Feb. 13: vs. Detroit Pistons (12:30 p.m., Moda Center) 🏠 Sunday, Feb. 14: vs. Chicago Bulls (12:30 p.m., Moda Center) 🏠 Tuesday, Feb. 16: vs. New Orleans Pelicans (7 p.m., Moda Center) 🏠 Thursday, Feb. 18: vs. Indiana Pacers (7 p.m., Moda Center) ⭐️ Friday, Feb. 19-Sunday, Feb. 21: NBA All-Star Weekend (Mortgage Matchup Center, Phoenix, NBC) 🏠 Friday, Feb. 26: vs. Dallas Mavericks (7 p.m., Moda Center) ✈️ Sunday, Feb. 28: at L.A. Clippers (7:30 p.m., Intuit Dome)
March 2027
📺 Tuesday, March 2: vs. L.A. Clippers (8 p.m., Moda Center, NBC) ✈️ Thursday, March 4: at Cleveland Cavaliers (4 p.m., Rocket Arena) ✈️ Friday, March 5: at Toronto Raptors (4:30 p.m., Scotiabank Arena) ✈️ Sunday, March 7: at Chicago Bulls (2 p.m., United Center) 📺 Tuesday, March 9: at Golden State Warriors (8 p.m., Chase Center, NBC) 🏠 Wednesday, March 10: vs. Denver Nuggets (7 p.m., Moda Center) 📺 Saturday, March 13: vs. L.A. Clippers (7:30 p.m., Moda Center, ESPN) 🏠 Tuesday, March 16: vs. Los Angeles Lakers (7 p.m., Moda Center) 🏠 Wednesday, March 17: vs. Miami Heat (7 p.m., Moda Center) ✈️ Friday, March 19: at Golden State Warriors (7 p.m., Chase Center) ✈️ Sunday, March 21: at Phoenix Suns (2 p.m., Mortgage Matchup Center) 🏠 Tuesday, March 23: vs. Toronto Raptors (7 p.m., Moda Center) 🏠 Friday, March 26: vs. Philadelphia 76ers (7 p.m., Moda Center) 🏠 Saturday, March 27: vs. Milwaukee Bucks (7 p.m., Moda Center) 📺 Tuesday, March 30: vs. Houston Rockets (8 p.m., Moda Center, NBC) 🏠 Wednesday, March 31: vs. Houston Rockets (7 p.m., Moda Center)
April 2027
🏠 Friday, April 2: vs. Utah Jazz (7 p.m., Moda Center) ✈️ Sunday, April 4: at Utah Jazz (2 p.m., Delta Center) 🏠 Wednesday, April 7: vs. Dallas Mavericks (7 p.m., Moda Center) ✈️ Friday, April 9: at Houston Rockets (5:30 p.m., Toyota Center) ✈️ Sunday, April 11: at San Antonio Spurs (5:30 p.m., Frost Bank Center)
🏠 Home game ✈️ Road game 📺 Nationally televised game 🏆 Emirates NBA Cup™️ game
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