The China Mail - NBA's 80th season tips off with Rockets at Thunder on October 21

The Thunder will raise their championship banner before reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his teammates face the Kevin Durant-led Rockets.

The game will be the first of two on opening night for the 2025-26 season with the later start featuring the Golden State Warriors at the Los Angeles Lakers, as Golden State star guard Stephen Curry and Lakers' playmaker LeBron James -- both four-time NBA champions -- meet for the 57th time in their iconic careers.

James, a 40-year-old forward, will become the first player in NBA history to compete in a 23rd NBA campaign while teammate Luka Doncic plays in his first season opener as a Laker.

Durant, a two-time NBA champion and 2014 NBA MVP, was traded from Phoenix to Houston last month as part of an NBA record seven-team deal.

The league also confirmed some other contest dates, including its Christmas schedule, ahead of Thursday's release of the full NBA schedule for the 2025-26 campaign.

The December 25 lineup includes five NBA games, starting with Cleveland at New York, the Knicks having made a record 57 Christmas appearances.

San Antonio will visit Oklahoma City in the Thunder's first game on December 25 since 2018 followed by Dallas at Golden State with ex-Warrior Klay Thompson returning to San Francisco with the Mavericks, then Houston at the Lakers and Minnesota at Denver.

On the second night of the season on October 22, the Cleveland Cavaliers will visit New York while the San Antonio Spurs open their season at Dallas in the NBA debuts for top NBA Draft pick Cooper Flagg of Dallas and second choice Dylan Harper of the Spurs, who also welcome back French star Victor Wembanyama after he missed the end of last season with deep vein thrombosis in his shoulder.

The following night sees Oklahoma City at Indiana in a rematch of last season's NBA Finals followed by Denver at Golden State with three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic of the Nuggets facing two-time NBA MVP Curry.

October 27 will see Cleveland at Detroit and Denver at Minnesota.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day games on January 19 will include Milwaukee at Atlanta, Oklahoma City at Cleveland, Dallas at New York and Boston at Detroit.

C.Smith--ThChM