How to Watch NBA Basketball With DISH
On Tuesday, October 20, a championship banner goes up at Madison Square Garden for the first time since 1973. The New York Knicks raise it at 7PM ET with the Philadelphia 76ers across the floor, the middle game of an opening-night tripleheader on NBC.
That banner took 53 years. In June, Jalen Brunson scored 45 points on the road in Game 5, including 13 straight in the fourth quarter. New York held off the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 to win the Finals four games to one. The Knicks became the eighth different champion in eight seasons, which says a great deal about how open this league has become.
It may be more open now. Philadelphia spent the summer collecting stars: LeBron James and Jaylen Brown now share a locker room with Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid. Giannis Antetokounmpo joined Bam Adebayo on the Miami Heat, and Kawhi Leonard went back to the Toronto Raptors. The Spurs reached the Finals years ahead of schedule, and now they've added Tobias Harris around Victor Wembanyama, who opens the season as the MVP favorite.
National games on ESPN, ABC, and NBC are all part of America's Top 120. Out-of-market games are available all season with NBA League Pass. Here's everything you need to know about how to watch the NBA with DISH.
How to Watch NBA Basketball with DISH
Like last season, the 244 nationally-televised NBA games will be split among three main rights-holders. They are:
NBC/Peacock/NBCSN: Between the three brands NBCUniversal will carry 100 regular-season games during the 2026-27 season. While NBC is available with all DISH packages, Peacock exclusives require a seperate subscription. Here are the NBC highlights:
- Opening Night (Oct. 20): 3 games (American Express NBA Tip-Off tripleheader).
- Sunday Night Basketball: 16 games total across 7 doubleheaders and 2 standalone games.
- Holiday Hoops (Dec. 22, 28, 29): 6 games across 3 national doubleheaders.
- Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Jan. 18): 3 daytime games on NBC (with a 4th evening game streaming exclusively on Peacock/NBCSN).
- Presidents' Day (Feb. 15): 3 daytime games on NBC (with a 4th evening game on Peacock/NBCSN).
- Coast 2 Coast Tuesday: Doubleheaders featured throughout most weeks of the regular season on NBC affiliates.
ABC/ESPN: The official ESPN and ABC regular-season broadcast schedule lists 78 total regular-season games. This includes the 5-game Christmas Day package; Saturday and Sunday games on ABC beginning in December; and exclusive coverage of the Western Conference Finals and NBA Finals.
Amazon Prime Video: Prime Video streams 66 regular-season games scheduled across Friday night doubleheaders, late-season Thursday night doubleheaders, select Saturday prime-time games in Europe, Opening Night (Oct. 23), Black Friday (Nov. 27), Christmas Week (Dec. 23), New Year's Eve (Dec. 31), and international Global Games in Paris and Manchester. Prime Video will also have the Semifinals and Championship game of the NBA Cup, all six games of the NBA Play-In tournament, select first and second round playoff games, and exclusive coverage of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Additionally, NBA TV (available with the MultiSport Pack or America's Top 200 and up) continues to air select non-exclusive regular-season games throughout the schedule (such as the Mexico City Global Game).
If you’re an NBA fanatic and want to watch all of the action, you can also subscribe to NBA League Pass with DISH. Or if you’re a diehard fan of one team, sign up for NBA Team Pass to watch all out-of-market games. To get the party started, NBA League Pass will be in free preview for all DISH subscribers from Oct. 20 to Oct. 26. Now here’s a closer look at the 2025 NBA season.
How to Watch the NBA In-Season Tournament, All-Star Weekend, and More
Emirates NBA Cup group play begins Oct. 30 with a doubleheader as the Knicks visit LeBron James and the Philadelphia 76ers, then Luka Dončić and the Lakers meet Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors. The NBA Cup Knockout rounds begin with the quarterfinals on Dec. 4 and Dec. 5, semifinals on Dec. 8 and culminating with the championship game on Dec. 11 from Butler University’s historic Hinkle Fieldhouse. All NBA Cup knockout round games are exclusive to Prime Video.
As for the ever popular Christmas Day showcase, this year's slate once again showcases the league's biggest stars and most compelling matchups:
- San Antonio Spurs vs. New York Knicks (12:00 p.m. ET)
- Miami Heat vs. Boston Celtics (2:30 p.m. ET)
- Philadelphia 76ers vs. Los Angeles Lakers (5:00 p.m. ET)
- Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (8:00 p.m. ET)
- Denver Nuggets vs. Golden State Warriors (10:30 p.m. ET)
And finally, the 2027 NBA All-Star Weekend will air on NBC and Peacock and takes place Feb. 19-21 from Mortgage Matchup Center, home of the Phoenix Suns. The regular season finishes on April 11, followed by the Play-In Tournament from April 13-16. The Playoffs get underway on April 17, and the NBA Finals will once again air on ABC beginning in early June.
