The pre-season is already underway, but there are great expectations for the start of the new NBA season 2024-25. Basketball’s most prestigious league returns with major innovations, and revolutionized franchises are poised to take the title from the reigning champions, the Boston Celtics. Below you will find the complete guide with calendar, dates, confirmations and what’s new for the new season. There are particularly high expectations for the father-son duo LeBron and Bronny James in the jersey of the Los Angeles Lakers, the first father-son pair in the history of American basketball.
When does the new NBA season start?
On the night of Tuesday 22nd to Wednesday 23rd October The NBA season begins, a long regular season with 82 games, followed by play-ins, playoffs and finals. A very long season that ends on April 13, 2025.
The confirmations
In the second year it will be NBA Cup with the Final Four in Las Vegas (December 14th-17th). The Boston Celtics are the team to beat, in the West the Mavericks, Thunder and Timberwolves are expected to confirm, in the East the Knicks, 76ers and Bucks are in the spotlight. Of course that is too All-Star Weekend confirmed in San Francisco.
The innovations
The NBA’s goal is for teams to keep their superstars on the court as often as possible. Because of this, the franchises will not play the night before or the night after a nationally televised game that is very important on paper; and there will be no NBA Cup games on the second night of a back-to-back. The maximum will be 16 back-to-backs and 11 teams, including the Suns, Nuggets, Clippers, Thunder and Bucks, will have it; the minimum is 13 and there will be 6 teams including Celtics, Mavericks and Lakers.
The program and the formula
Each of the 30 teams will 82 regular season games play, at least two per year against all other 29 franchises (one home, one away), four times against teams in the same division, and three or four times against the other 10 teams in the same conference. The top six teams in each conference (East and West) go directly to the playoffsthe top four have the home advantage in the first round. The play-in tournament is played from the seventh to the tenthwith this formula: 7th against 8th, the winner is in the playoffs as 7th, the loser is in the second round, 9th against 10th, the winner is in the second round, the loser has finished the season; the winner of the second round is in the playoffs as 8th, the loser is “on vacation”. The playoffs have all series in a best-of-seven format.
Rest days
November 5th: Election Day November 28th: Thanksgiving December 18th: after the NBA Cup Finals December 24th: Christmas Eve December 14th-19th February: All-Star break April 12: Eve of the last regular season game
Where to watch the NBA season on TV and streaming
In Italy, Sky has the rights to the NBA and broadcasts at least one game every night on the Sky Sport NBA channel (channel 209) and, depending on the game, also on Sky Sport Uno, as well as NBA Saturdays, NBA Sundays, highlights and analysis. You must have subscribed to the “Sport” package. It will be available in streaming on NOW TV with the “Sport” pass and via the Sky Go app. The NBA also has its own official app, NBA League Pass, which can be used on smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, Xbox One and Apple TV.
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