NBA 2024-25 schedule: Key dates and biggest games of the season

The dust has now very much settled on the Boston Celtics winning the 2024 finals and in doing so cementing a record 18th NBA title to become the most successful franchise in league history.

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We’re now getting close to the start of the 79th season of the most revered basketball competition on the planet with the action getting underway on 22 October as Celtics face the Knicks with the regular season set to end on April 13 with the play-in scheduled for April 13 to 18 and the playoffs set to begin a day later, on the 19th. The 24-25 Championship finals will start on June 5.

After the season opener, the next high profile date on the calendar is the Christmas Day action and as recent tradition dictates, five games will be played on December 25.

The Spurs will open the action, visiting Madison Square Garden to face the Knicks. The second Christmas Day game sees Minnesota visit Dallas in a repeat of last year’s Western Conference final and on the corresponding day last season, Mavs’ Slovenian star Luka Doncic became the first player to score 50 points with 15 assists, 6 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 blocks in the game against the Suns. Three more attractive games are scheduled to close out the rest of Christmas Day action, Celtics-Sixers, Warriors-Lakers and Suns-Nuggets.

The NBA have decided to not schedule any games on the day of the American elections (November 5) with the league anxious that fans cast their votes in deciding the next government.

Rivals week games

Classic and newly forged rivalries among teams and players will take the spotlight during the third annual NBA Rivals Week in January which will include 10 high profile match-ups, including Dallas Mavericks taking on Boston Celtics in their first meeting since the 2024 NBA Finals.

The regular season will come to a close on 13 April, as was the case last year, all games will be played with a unified schedule: Eastern Conference matches will start at 7:00 p.m. and games against Western Conference rivals at 9:30 p.m.

NBA key dates