Aug. 19, 2026, 2:01 p.m.
CT
The NBA has dropped its entire 2026-27 regular season schedule. The mid-August announcement provides an oasis of content in an otherwise slow part of the calendar year. The Oklahoma City Thunder have finally learned when and where they’ll face their opponents during the marathon-esque campaign.
It shouldn’t be a surprise, but the Thunder are an NBA main character. They have the fifth-most national TV games in the 2026-27 regular season with 30 broadcasts. They enter the year as co-title favorites — alongside the San Antonio Spurs. So it makes sense to see OKC front and center throughout the whole year.
While it’s not a national TV game and will be shown on local broadcasts, the Thunder will play on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. They travel on the road to face the Dallas Mavericks on Monday, Jan. 18 at 7 p.m. CT. This is part of a home-and-road back-to-back. On the first night, OKC will host the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday, Jan.
17 at 2:30 p.m. CT. The NBA celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. Day every year with a day-long slate of national TV games. Of course, the United States federal holiday celebrates one of the more prominent civil rights movement leaders. It always falls on the closest Monday to his Jan. 15.
birthday. It’s cool to see the Thunder take part in one of the NBA’s biggest regular-season days.
Even if it’s not technically on national TV. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren round out one of the league’s top trios. With one ring in hand, expect them to be a regular-season win machine once more.
Against the Mavericks, that should be an exciting matchup. We all know about Cooper Flagg and his path to NBA superstardom. But Kyrie Irving is set to return after he missed the entire 2025-26 season with a torn ACL. New head coach Dusty May also brings along Morez Johnson Jr. with him in their first year together in the NBA.
The Thunder and Mavericks will face off four times during the 2026-27 regular season. With three games on national TV, it feels like the schedule-makers are banking on Dallas to have a bounce-back year. If everything goes right, they could be a postseason team.
