The Magic and Nuggets have 2 of the NBA’s easiest schedule in January.
It’s a new year and a new month. As we enter January, the title picture feels a little more open than it did three weeks ago.
The Oklahoma City Thunder look a little more vulnerable, the San Antonio Spurs look like a contender and five other teams have been better, statistically, than San Antonio. The Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets and Minnesota Timberwolves join the Thunder and Spurs as teams that enter 2026 in the top 10 on both ends of the floor.
January may be the most important month of the season. First, it has a lot of games (235), with only March (237) having more. The trade deadline is also 35 days away, so the next 31 days will help teams determine what changes they want to make while they still have a chance.
Here’s a schedule breakdown for January.
Note: A rest-advantage game (or rest-disadvantage game) is one where one team played the day/night before, but the other (the team with the advantage) did not. Teams are 60-54 (.526) in rest-advantage games, 29-29 (.500) at home and 31-25 (.554) on the road, through Dec. 31.
January strength of schedule
Here’s a look at the January schedule for every team, sorted from the toughest (regarding cumulative opponent winning percentage) to the easiest:
Team
OppPCT
B2B
H | R
O | U
1.
Sacramento
.555
4
10 | 7
13 | 4
2.
Indiana
.553
1
8 | 7
10 | 5
3.
Phoenix
.545
3
8 | 8
10 | 6
4.
Cleveland
.540
1
8 | 7
11 | 4
5.
Memphis
.539
3
*9 | 4*
10 | 5
6.
Milwaukee
.535
0
5 | 8
8 | 5
7.
Minnesota
.534
4
7 | 9
10 | 6
8.
New Orleans
.533
3
6 | 10
9 | 7
9.
Miami
.527
4
7 | 10
10 | 7
10.
Portland
.525
4
8 | 7
10 | 5
11.
Charlotte
.502
5
6 | 11
9 | 8
12.
Houston
.502
3
9 | 8
7 | 10
13.
Atlanta
.500
2
6 | 10
10 | 6
14.
Golden State
.499
2
11 | 5
7 | 9
15.
Dallas
.499
3
10 | 6
8 | 8
16.
Utah
.495
4
8 | 9
8 | 9
17.
Toronto
.494
2
6 | 9
8 | 7
18.
San Antonio
.494
4
6 | 9
7 | 8
19.
Brooklyn
.494
4
7 | 10
8 | 9
20.
Detroit
.492
2
9 | 5
9 | 5
21.
Chicago
.489
3
9 | 7
9 | 7
22.
LA Clippers
.487
2
7 | 8
7 | 8
23.
Oklahoma City
.485
1
7 | 8
9 | 6
24.
Philadelphia
.476
3
11 | 6
10 | 7
25.
Washington
.465
3
9 | 6
7 | 8
26.
New York
.461
3
8 | 7
7 | 8
27.
Boston
.445
2
8 | 8
5 | 11
28.
Los Angeles Lakers
.436
3
6 | 10
4 | 12
29.
Denver
.428
5
8 | 9
5 | 12
30.
Orlando
.421
1
*6 | 5*
5 | 8
OppPCT = Cumulative opponent winning percentage (through Dec. 31)
B2B = Back-to-backs
H | R = Home games | Road games
* The Grizzlies’ and Magic’s home and road counts don’t include their games in Berlin and London.
Eastern Conference notes
The Celtics have 1 of the East’s easier schedules in January, while the Pacers have the East’s toughest.
- The Hawks are the only team with a winning record (10-8) on the road and a losing record (6-11) at home. They’ll play seven of their first eight January games on the road, with the first six of those road games coming against teams that enter the month with winning records.
- The Celtics enter January with three games left on a stretch of seven straight against teams currently below .500. They’ll end January with the first six games of eight straight against teams currently below .500. They have a league-high four January games against the four teams that currently have fewer than 10 wins, starting and finishing the month with their two games against the Kings.
- The Nets are one of three teams with a league-high four rest-disadvantage games this month, with three of those four on the road. But they have a league-high nine games against teams that currently rank in the bottom 10 defensively, including two each against the Nuggets (21st), Clippers (23rd) and Bulls (24th).
- The Hornets have the league’s most road-heavy January schedule, with 11 of their 17 games on the road. Their longest trip of the season (five games in West arenas over nine days) is Jan. 10-18. They’re also one of two teams – the Nuggets are the other – with a league-high five back-to-backs this month, and they begin 2026 with their first stretch of five games in seven days.
- The Bulls‘ first five games of January are their second (and final) stretch of five games in seven days. Four of those five games are against the eight teams ahead of them in the East standings, a group the Bulls are currently 7-5 against.
- The Cavs have the East’s second-toughest January schedule, with 11 of their 15 games against teams that enter the month with winning records. Those include a huge two-game set in Philadelphia (Jan. 14 and 16) and a huge home-and-home set with the Magic (Jan. 24 and 26). Cleveland enters the month with the worst record (3-8) in games played between the eight East teams with winning records.
- The Pistons enter 2026 having won 11 of their last 12 games at Little Caesars Arena. Their longest homestand of the season (six games over 15 days) is Jan. 5-19, which begins with their first meeting (a rest-disadvantage game) against the Knicks (a team they lead by two games at the top of the East entering January.)
- The Pacers have the East’s toughest January schedule regarding cumulative opponent winning percentage (.553), with 10 of their 15 games against teams that currently have winning records. Their longest road trip of the season (five games over 10 days) is Jan. 17-26 and includes visits to Detroit, Philadelphia, Boston and Oklahoma City.
- The Heat are one of three teams with a league-high four rest-disadvantage games this month, and they’re all against Western Conference opponents. Their second (and final) stretch of five games in seven days is a five-game trip out West from Jan. 19-25.
- The Bucks are tied with the Magic (who are going to Europe) for the fewest games in January (13). Milwaukee is the only team with no back-to-backs this month, and it will have a stretch of three straight rest-advantage games from Jan. 23-27. If the Bucks are going to climb the Eastern Conference standings, they’ll have to do it against the West, with nine of their 13 games against the opposite conference.
- The Knicks have just one January game (fewest of any team) against teams that currently rank in the top 10 offensively. That’s a rest-advantage game in Detroit on Jan. 5, their first meeting with the first-place Pistons.
- The Magic have the league’s easiest January schedule regarding cumulative opponent winning percentage (.421). Eight of their first nine games are against teams that enter the month with losing records, a stretch that includes their two games against the Grizzlies in Europe. They’ll finish the month with four huge games within the top eight of the Eastern Conference, facing the Cavs (x 2), Heat and Raptors.
- The Sixers have the East’s most home-heavy January schedule, with 11 of their 17 games at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Their longest homestand of the season is six games from Jan. 14-24 and begins with two big games against the Cavs. Of course, they enter January as one of seven teams with a better record on the road (8-6) than they have at home (9-8).
- The Raptors have a league-high five rest-advantage games in January, and are also one of two teams with no rest-disadvantage games this month. Three of those rest-advantage games are on a five-game trip out West from Jan. 18-25.
- The Wizards have the East’s easiest January schedule in regard to opposing defenses, with only two of their 15 games against teams that enter the month in the top 10 defensively. They have eight January games against teams that rank in the bottom 10 on defense, including six straight from Jan. 14-24.
Western Conference notes
Will the Lakers or Suns fare better in their January schedule?
- The Mavs‘ 28th-ranked offense will have an opportunity to score some points when they play six of seven games (from Jan. 6-17) against teams that enter the month in the bottom 10 defensively. Three of those six games are against the Jazz.
- The Nuggets have the West’s easiest January schedule regarding cumulative opponent winning percentage (.428), with 12 of their 17 games against teams that currently have losing records. But they begin the month without Nikola Jokić and with four games left on a seven-game trip. They’re also one of two teams with a league-high five back-to-backs this month, with their two stretches of five games in seven days coming Jan. 17-23 and Jan. 29 – Feb. 4.
- The Warriors have the league’s third-biggest differential between their record at home (10-4) and their record on the road (8-12), and they have the league’s most home-heavy January schedule, with 11 of their 16 games at Chase Center. That includes the league’s longest homestand of the season (eight games from Jan. 7-20). But they’re the only team without any multi-day breaks this month, and they begin 2026 with the last two games of their first stretch of five in seven days.
- The Rockets have played the league’s most road-heavy schedule through December, and they’ll still play five of their first six January games on the road. At that point, they will have played only 13 of their 36 games at the Toyota Center, and they’ll then begin a five-game homestand that includes visits from the Thunder, Wolves and Spurs.
- The Clippers enter 2026 with the league’s longest active winning streak (five games). They have the league’s easiest January schedule regarding opposing defenses, with seven of their 15 games against teams that enter 2026 in the bottom seven defensively. That includes two games each against the Jazz (29th) and Wizards (30th).
- The Lakers will play a league-low four January games against teams that enter the month with winning records. They’re 13-3 against the 14 teams currently below .500 and they also play eight of their first nine January games against that group.
- The Grizzlies have the league’s biggest differential between their record against the 14 teams that enter January below .500 (13-3) and their record against the 16 teams currently above .500 (2-15). They’ll play seven of their first eight January games against the latter group, a stretch that concludes with two games against the Magic in Europe. They’re one of two teams — the Blazers are the other — without any rest-advantage games in January, and they’ll finish the month with their only stretch of five games in seven days.
- The Wolves have the league’s toughest January schedule regarding opposing defenses. Nine of their 16 games are against teams that enter 2026 in the top 10 on that end of the floor. That includes two games each against the Heat (fourth), Spurs (seventh) and Warriors (third).
- The Pelicans enter January having played the league’s most home-heavy schedule, with 21 of their 35 games having come at the Smoothie King Center. They’ll play two of their first three January games at home, but then play eight of their next 11 on the road. That stretch concludes with the toughest five-game stretch for any team this month, with games against the Rockets, Pistons, Grizzlies, Spurs and Thunder.
- The Thunder have just one January back-to-back (Sunday and Monday). But, they won’t have a multi-day break until the last two days of the month and play every other day from Jan. 5-29. Their first of two remaining games against the Spurs is Jan. 13 in Oklahoma City.
- The Suns didn’t play in an Eastern Conference arena until Dec. 29 and they open 2026 with four games within the West. But they’ll then play 12 straight against the East, a stretch that includes a six-game trip and all four of their games against the Pistons and Knicks.
- The Blazers have the league’s toughest January schedule regarding opposing offenses, with seven of their 15 games against teams that currently rank in the top eight on that end of the floor. That includes two games each against the Knicks (second) and Rockets (third). Their first two games of the month are the end of a stretch of five games in seven days.
- The Kings have played the league’s toughest schedule (cumulative opponent winning percentage of .571) through December, and they somehow have the league’s toughest January. Ten of their first 12 games are at home, but they close the month with the first five games of a six-game trip, visiting five of the top eight teams in the Eastern Conference.
- The Spurs have a league-high five two-day breaks this month, playing only three games over the final nine days of January. They enter 2026 with the best record (6-2) in games played between the top six teams in the West, and they’ll have six more games within the group this month. That includes two each against the Wolves and Rockets, as well as a visit to Oklahoma City on Jan. 13.
- The Jazz are the only team that doesn’t have any January games against the four teams — Indiana, New Orleans, Sacramento and Washington — that enter the month with fewer than 10 wins. They’ll play nine of their next 11 games on the road, and they have a league-high 10 January games against teams that enter the month in the top 10 defensively.
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John Schuhmann has covered the NBA for more than 20 years. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Bluesky.
