The 2026-2027 NBA Schedule Is Out: Which Teams Have the Most and Fewest National TV Games?
How many national TV games does each NBA team have in 2026-2027?
The NBA released its full schedule for the 2026-2027 season on Thursday. There are plenty of intriguing stretches that fans will want to mark on their calendars, including games on Christmas Day and MLK Day, plus the NBA Cup.
But when it comes to the day-to-day grind of the NBA season, there are 82 games per team to keep track of. And if you’re a fan who loves more than one team — or someone who doesn’t have access to a local TV station — the national TV games are arguably the simplest way to consume the league.
So we thought it’d be handy to map out all 30 NBA teams and how many national TV games each has during the 2026-2027 season. A reminder: These counts are subject to change depending on how well or poorly a team performs throughout the season.
H3: 2026-2027 NBA national TV game counts by team
| Team | National TV games |
|---|---|
| Atlanta Hawks | 10 |
| Boston Celtics | 27 |
| Brooklyn Nets | 2 |
| Charlotte Hornets | 6 |
| Chicago Bulls | 3 |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | 17 |
| Dallas Mavericks | 21 |
| Denver Nuggets | 28 |
| Detroit Pistons | 19 |
| Golden State Warriors | 28 |
| Houston Rockets | 21 |
| Indiana Pacers | 11 |
| Los Angeles Clippers | 8 |
| Los Angeles Lakers | 34 |
| Memphis Grizzlies | 2 |
| Miami Heat | 25 |
| Milwaukee Bucks | 2 |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | 27 |
| New Orleans Pelicans | 2 |
| New York Knicks | 34 |
| Oklahoma City Thunder | 30 |
| Orlando Magic | 8 |
| Philadelphia 76ers | 34 |
| Phoenix Suns | 9 |
| Portland Trail Blazers | 11 |
| Sacramento Kings | 2 |
| San Antonio Spurs | 34 |
| Toronto Raptors | 7 |
| Utah Jazz | 6 |
| Washington Wizards | 6 |
Data from NBA schedule released on August 13. Games will air on ABC/ESPN, NBC/Peacock/NBCSN, and Amazon Prime Video
Highlights of the NBA schedule release
The NBA schedule release is like Christmas morning for any avid NBA fan — myself included. There’s nothing like breaking down Opening Night, long road trips, rivalry matchups, and the home stretch before the playoffs.
While it would be impossible to break down the schedule for every single NBA team — that’s 1,230 total games, mind you — here are some things I found interesting through the lens of how many national TV games each team got.
- Big markets are king, but a Finals team gets rewarded. The Lakers and Knicks each got the max number of national games allotted this season at 34. But so did the Spurs, who play in a traditionally small market. It just goes to show that winning matters, too.
- Sucks to suck, Brooklyn. The Nets got just two games on national TV this season, despite playing in a huge market. But the team is bad, and it has long played second fiddle to the Knicks in New York.
- No Giannis, no coverage. The Milwaukee Bucks find themselves back in small-market territory after Giannis Antetokounmpo left for Miami. Without him, the Bucks have only two national TV games on the initial schedule.
- Nuggets and Warriors beat Boston. Star power matters when it comes to national TV games in the NBA. So it’s not really a surprise that teams led by Nikola Jokic and Steph Curry get nearly 30 national games. But the Celtics got one fewer than both, and I would argue they have a better chance of winning it all than either team.
- LeBron. The 76ers were one of four teams to get the maximum 34 national games. LeBron James chose the Sixers in free agency. Enough said.
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