Di 2026-27 NBA season dey start today with three games, and five teams wey many people see as title favorites go show face. Di opening action begin for 3:00 PM ET, when Boston Celtics, wey get di fifth-best championship odds, travel go meet Detroit Pistons, wey finish as top seed for Eastern Conference last year. Dem design di early time slot to catch European primetime audience.
After that one, New York Knicks go raise dia championship banner and collect dia rings for Madison Square Garden before dem host one revamped Philadelphia 76ers side wey get LeBron James and Jaylen Brown as superstar tandem.
Di opening slate go end for di Western Conference with one marquee Western Conference Finals rematch between Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs. Di two powerhouses currently dey as overall betting favorites to lift Larry O’Brien Trophy, ahead of di two Eastern contenders.
Di Knicks title na dia first for 53 seasons, and e extend one remarkable run: eight different champions for di last eight years—Raptors, Lakers, Bucks, Golden State Warriors, Nuggets, Boston Celtics, Oklahoma City Thunder and Knicks. Na di longest streak of non-repeating champions for NBA history. For this historic era of parity, only Golden State Warriors, Boston Celtics and Miami Heat don reach Finals more than once, and Miami lose both of dia title trips.
Knicks enter this campaign with largely di same core roster intact, and dat continuity fit help dem stop di championship carousel and become di first team for di league to win back-to-back championships since Golden State Warriors for 2017–2018. But across one grueling 82-game regular season, injuries and roster fluctuations dey dictate momentum, and di real title pecking order usually go clear after di 2027 All-Star Game for Phoenix.
For di Eastern Conference, rival Philadelphia 76ers join Knicks as co-favorites to reach Eastern Conference Finals. For di Western Conference, di ultimate title favorites na 2024-25 champion Oklahoma City Thunder and runner-up San Antonio Spurs. San Antonio show early postseason growing pains last spring, but dem enter this year with huge expectations as reigning Defensive Player of the Year Victor Wembanyama enter im fourth NBA season with valuable playoff mileage under im belt.
As opening night dey unfold, di league dey enter another chapter wey people expect say e go deliver iconic individual milestones, like Bam Adebayo historic 83-point explosion last season, and high-stakes postseason drama.
