NBA on Sky Sports: Dates, schedule, UK start times and how to watch or stream live regular season and playoff action

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The 2026/27 NBA season is here and Sky Sports viewers have lots to look forward to.

With up to 130 live regular season games, plus matches from the playoffs including the Conference Finals and NBA Finals, there is a feast of live action heading your way.

All bases are covered with five live games on Christmas Day, plus coverage of All-Star Weekend and MLK Day, so with no further ado, here's your guide to some of the biggest moments this season…

Opening Night

The most immediate - and perhaps the most unmissable - instalment of NBA on Sky is the league's opening night on Tuesday.

The Detroit Pistons - who topped the Eastern Conference last year with an impressive 60-22 record - play host to the 2024 champions Boston Celtics at 8pm on Sky Sports Mix. The Celtics are sporting a new-look side featuring Paul George after his arrival in a high-profile trade that facilitated the departure of last year's leading scorer Jaylen Brown.

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LeBron James got 10 points, five assists and four rebounds in the first half in Philadelphia 76ers debut in preseason match against Brooklyn Nets

Later that evening, Brown joins up with LeBron James, Joel Embiid, and the rest of his new Philadelphia 76ers team-mates as they travel to Madison Square Garden to face the reigning champion New York Knicks.

The slate ends with yet another fascinating match-up: a rematch of last year's seven-game epic Western Conference Finals series between reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's Oklahoma City Thunder and Victor Wembanyama's San Antonio Spurs.

Christmas Day

Christmas Day is already a staple in the NBA calendar - but this year in particular is a feast for UK fans, with five games across 12 hours of live basketball on Sky.

The day kicks off with a rematch of the 2026 Finals - Wembanyama's Spurs will look to exact their revenge on Jalen Brunson's Knicks in New York at 5pm, before Giannis Antetokounmpo's Miami Heat visit the Celtics in Boston.

Later, LeBron returns to Los Angeles as an opposing player for the first time in eight years to take on the Lakers at Staples Center, with the Thunder playing Anthony Edwards' Minnesota Timberwolves and the Denver Nuggets taking a trip to San Francisco to face Steph Curry's Golden State Warriors in the early hours of the morning.

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Highlights of the NBA Finals Game 5 match-up between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs

All-Star Weekend

All-Star weekend - the NBA's mid-season showpiece - will once again be shown live on Sky.

The NBA All-Star game on Sunday night headlines the weekend - but there are five other events for fans to get stuck into across the three-day event

The All-Star weekend kicks off with the Rising Stars game on Friday, with its own round robin featuring a draft selected by a plethora of honorary coaches and NBA legends to be selected closer to the time.

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Nikola Jokic reminded everyone of his extraordinary playmaking ability in Sunday's preseason opener, whipping a sensational behind-the-back crosscourt assist to Cameron Johnson for three

The four teams are made up of players in their first and second years in the NBA - last year, the field was headlined by Mavericks No 1 pick Cooper Flagg, bar one team, which is made up entirely of players from the NBA's development affiliate, the G-League.

Saturday features the Shooting Stars contest, the three-point contest and the dunk contest.

If that wasn't enough, Friday's action finishes with the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, before the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) classic takes place early on the next day.

Play-in tournament

The play-in tournament at the beginning of April - taking place just after the end of the regular season, but before the playoffs - represents one of the most emotional and consequential weekends of the NBA season.

While the teams that finish Nos. 1-6 in the standings of each conference are guaranteed a playoff spot, the teams that finish Nos. 7-10 in the standings are entered into the play-in. These teams will battle for the seventh and eighth playoff seeds.

Here is the NBA's overview of how it works:

2027 NBA Finals

After 1,230 regular season games and a potential 98 playoff games - it will all come down to the 2027 NBA finals, which will be live on Sky Sports.

Last season's finals saw the Knicks only require five games to beat the Spurs and secure their first NBA championship in 54 years, prompting frenzied celebrations in America's biggest city that New York will be keen to recreate in 2026.

Sky Sports' 2026/27 NBA schedule

All times listed in GMT

And there's more...

Sky Sports On Demand offers a wide range of NBA documentaries as well as 10 of the best games from the 2025/26 season - including every Finals Game between Knicks and Spurs.

We also have 20 of the greatest games in the history of basketball, including classic All-Stars & Finals and epic moments from Michael Jordan, Allen Iverson and many other NBA legends.

How to watch or stream the NBA in the UK and Ireland

Got Sky?

TV: Sky Customers can watch all of our scheduled matches live on Sky Sports

App: Sky Customers can also watch on the Sky Sports app.

Not got Sky?

Stream: Non-Sky Customers can stream the action with a NOW Day or a cancel-anytime Month pass

How to watch the NBA on mobile with the Sky Sports app

Sky Sports Subscribers can:

  1. Download or open the Sky Sports app
  2. Head to the 'Live' section when a match is scheduled
  3. Tap on the appropriate Sky Sports channel
  4. Sign in with your Sky iD (*you'll only need to do this once)

*Sky iD help: How to find or create your Sky iD

What is NOW?

NOW is an instant streaming service offering access to all 12 Sky Sports channels, every Sky Sports+ stream, and much more.

It's an app, so customers can sign up and stream instantly across over 60 devices. It offers contract-free membership options, so customers can cancel anytime!

You can choose between a Month or Day Membership. See the latest NOW membership prices.

More information about NOW can be found here.