The Golden State Warriors are once again positioned at the center of the NBA’s biggest moments, featured prominently on both Opening Night and Christmas Day—two marquee occasions that every basketball fan marks on their calendar.
Opening Night: The 2025–26 season will tip off on October 21, opening with a Western Conference doubleheader that resumes NBC’s historic partnership with the league. First, the Houston Rockets (with Kevin Durant) will visit the Oklahoma City Thunder, who will celebrate by raising their championship banner on their home court . Next, the Golden State Warriors will face their long-time rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers, in a showdown between Stephen Curry and LeBron James, now with a Lakers squad featuring Luka Dončić entering his first full season in L.A. . This matchup revives one of the NBA’s most enduring rivalries, setting a dramatic tone for the season’s start .
Christmas Day: The Warriors will once again headline the NBA’s holiday festivities, hosting the Dallas Mavericks in one of five straight games scheduled for December 25 . This isn’t just another regular-season game: it brings a homecoming for franchise icon Klay Thompson (now with the Mavericks) and presents a thrilling showdown with Cooper Flagg, the Mavs’ new No. 1 overall pick, making a splash on the league’s biggest stage .
The full 2025 Christmas Day slate is stacked with compelling matchups:
Cavaliers at Knicks, opening the day with an Eastern Conference battle at Madison Square Garden .
Spurs at Thunder, featuring rising star Victor Wembanyama facing the reigning champions .
Rockets at Lakers, delivering another high-stakes Durant-vs-LeBron contest .
Mavericks at Warriors, a headline event filled with legacy and new blood .
Timberwolves at Nuggets, closing the day with a gritty, high-powered Western Conference rivalry .
The slate has been praised for its storytelling and star power, even ranking Spurs-Thunder as the most watchable clash of the day, followed closely by Nuggets-Timberwolves and Rockets-Lakers .
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Why It Matters
National Spotlight: Both the Lakers-Warriors opener and the Warriors-Mavs Christmas matchup will be broadcast to wide audiences—on NBC to begin the season and ABC/ESPN for the holiday—ensuring maximum exposure .
Star-Studded Storylines: These games weave together history (Curry vs. LeBron), nostalgia (Klay returns to the Bay), rising stars (Flagg and Wembanyama), and championship drama (Thunder’s banner ceremony).
Western Conference Focus: With only one Eastern matchup featured, the schedule clearly leans into the league’s emerging and established Western narratives .
This season promises to keep the Warriors—and the broader NBA—at the heart of elite competition and global attention, starting with the thunder of Opening Night and lasting through the festive fireworks of Christmas Day
