Game Day · New York · Updated October 2026
Two teams, two arenas, one official bar list.
New York is the only city with two NBA teams, and only one of them will tell you where to watch. The Knicks publish a 21-bar Tap Takeover list covering all five boroughs and three states. The Nets publish nothing at all — and the single Brooklyn bar on the Knicks’ own list sits five miles from Barclays Center. Here is the season, both arenas, and where that leaves you.
- Knicks opened October 20; next at the Garden October 25
- Nets opened October 21; next at Barclays October 25
- 21 official Knicks bars, 1 of them in Brooklyn
- 0 official Nets bars
- Park Slope kitchen: 100 per cent gluten-free
Marina Charny, Owner, The Beer Garage
When the 2026-27 season actually starts
There is a trap in the published schedule. The New York games dated October 5, 6, 8, 12, 13, 14 and 15 do not count: the league’s own feed marks every one of them Preseason. The regular season opened on Tuesday, October 20.
| Home game | Eastern Time | Arena | TV in the league feed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indiana at Nets | Sun Oct 25, 6:00 PM | Barclays Center | DAZN (YES) |
| Orlando at Knicks | Sun Oct 25, 7:00 PM | Madison Square Garden | MSG / DAZN (MSG) |
| Detroit at Knicks | Tue Oct 27, 8:00 PM | Madison Square Garden | NBC / Peacock |
| Detroit at Nets | Fri Oct 30, 7:30 PM | Barclays Center | DAZN (YES) |
| Nets at Knicks | Mon Nov 2, 7:30 PM | Madison Square Garden | MSG / DAZN (MSG); DAZN (YES) for the Nets |
| Charlotte at Nets | Wed Nov 4, 7:30 PM | Barclays Center | DAZN (YES) |
| Chicago at Knicks | Wed Nov 4, 7:30 PM | Madison Square Garden | MSG / DAZN (MSG) |
| Milwaukee at Knicks | Tue Nov 10, 7:30 PM | Madison Square Garden | MSG / DAZN (MSG) |
| Cleveland at Knicks | Wed Nov 11, 7:00 PM | Madison Square Garden | ESPN |
Every time above was converted to Eastern Time from the league’s raw UTC timestamps, and every preseason fixture was filtered out by its game identifier rather than by eye. The TV column shows national broadcasts and the local listings, rechecked October 21, 2026; the feed now lists MSG / DAZN (MSG) for Knicks home games, which it did not on October 7.
The Knicks list 21 bars. The Nets list none.
This is the part no neighborhood guide tells you, and it is the single most useful thing about watching NBA in New York. The Knicks run Tap Takeovers, presented by Michelob ULTRA, and publish every location on their own site. We read the list on September 23, 2026 and counted 21, and the count was the same when we rechecked it on October 7, 2026.
| Where | How many | The bars |
|---|---|---|
| Manhattan | 10 | Amity Hall Downtown (80 W 3rd St), Goldie’s Tavern (135 W 30th St), Legends (6 W 33rd St), Rocco’s Sports & Recreation (1 W 3rd St), Stout 35th (215 W 35th St), Crompton’s Alehouse (159 W 26th St), Ulysses (58 Stone St), Inwood Bar & Grill (4892 Broadway), Hurley’s (232 W 48th St), The Celly (332 9th Ave) |
| Queens | 3 | Pig Beach BBQ (35-37 36th St), Break Bar (32-04 Broadway, Astoria), One Station Plaza (21310 41st Ave, Bayside) |
| The Bronx | 2 | Last Stop (4609 White Plains Rd), Rambling House (4292 Katonah Ave) |
| Brooklyn | 1 | The Kettle Black (8622 3rd Ave, Bay Ridge) |
| Staten Island | 1 | Jimmy Max (280 Watchogue Rd) |
| Outside the city | 4 | Texas Arizona (Hoboken), J.P. Doyle’s (Sleepy Hollow), Bobby V’s and Vinny’s Backyard (both Stamford) |
Seventeen of the 21 are inside the five boroughs, and ten of those seventeen are in Manhattan. If you follow the Knicks and you are anywhere near midtown or the Village, the team has effectively answered the question for you.
The Brooklyn gap
Put those two facts next to a map and the result is strange. Brooklyn has the arena. Brooklyn has the team. And the only officially listed NBA bar in the borough belongs to the other team, in Bay Ridge.
We measured it in Google Maps walking mode on September 23, 2026. From the middle of Park Slope at 148 5th Avenue, The Kettle Black is 5.0 miles away, one hour and fifty-three minutes on foot. Barclays Center, by comparison, is eight minutes. Bay Ridge is not a Barclays bar in any practical sense; it is most of the borough away.
So for a Nets game in Brooklyn there is no list to follow, and for a Knicks game in Brooklyn the list sends you across the borough. What is left is the ordinary work of checking which nearby bar actually says it shows the NBA — which is what our Brooklyn guide does, bar by bar.
Knicks against Nets, all four nights
The two teams meet four times, split evenly between the arenas.
| Date | Eastern Time | Arena |
|---|---|---|
| Monday, November 2 | 7:30 PM | Madison Square Garden |
| Sunday, December 27 | 6:00 PM | Madison Square Garden |
| Monday, February 1 | 7:30 PM | Barclays Center |
| Friday, April 2 | 7:30 PM | Barclays Center |
The Sunday after Christmas at 6:00 PM is the one to plan around. It is the only weekend meeting of the four, and the only one that starts early enough to be a whole evening rather than a late one.
The nights both teams play
Twice in the opening month the city runs two home games at once. On Sunday, October 25 the Nets tip off at 6:00 PM and the Knicks at 7:00 PM. On Wednesday, November 4 both start at 7:30 PM exactly.
That matters when you are picking a room. A bar with one screen and one sound feed has to choose, and in most of Manhattan it will choose the Knicks. If you want the Nets on with sound on a night like that, ask before you settle in.
What the league actually publishes about television
We will be straight about this, because a lot of guides are not. The league’s own schedule feed, reread on October 7, 2026, lists a national television broadcaster for 46 New York games, most of them Knicks games: NBC and Peacock for opening night on Tuesday, October 20, Prime Video on October 23, ESPN on November 11, ABC and ESPN on Christmas Day, and NBA TV on some other nights. On October 7 it listed no local broadcaster for the Knicks; by October 21 it listed MSG / DAZN (MSG) for 65 Knicks games. Every Nets home game carries a local listing of “DAZN (YES)”, and a few Nets games carry a national broadcaster too, the first on November 23.
For the rest of the Knicks schedule the feed names no channel, and we are not going to print one we cannot source from the league. Check the team’s own listing on the day, or ring the bar.
Our two rooms
We are not on the Knicks’ list and we are not going to pretend otherwise. Here is where we sit on the map, measured rather than claimed.
| Our room | Address | Nearest official Knicks bar | Nearest arena |
|---|---|---|---|
| Park Slope | 148 5th Avenue, Brooklyn | The Kettle Black, 1 hr 53 min on foot | Barclays Center, 8 min |
| West Village | 118 Christopher Street | Amity Hall Downtown, 12 min · Rocco’s, 17 min | Madison Square Garden |
Read that honestly and it tells you two different things. In Manhattan we are a twelve-minute walk from a bar the Knicks themselves endorse, so if the official list is what you want, you are spoilt for choice and we are one option among many. In Brooklyn the official list is effectively empty, and we are eight minutes from the arena door with a kitchen that is entirely gluten-free.
Best for
- A Nets home game. Eight minutes from the arena, and no official list to compete with.
- Anyone who needs a gluten-free kitchen on a game night. Rare anywhere, close to unheard of in a sports bar.
- The Sunday, December 27 derby at 6:00 PM. The only weekend Knicks-Nets meeting, and early enough to make a night of it.
- A West Village evening where you want the game on without crossing town to the Garden.
Skip if
- You want the official Knicks room. Ten of them are in Manhattan; Amity Hall Downtown is twelve minutes from our West Village door and it is on the list, we are not.
- You are in Bay Ridge, Queens, the Bronx or Staten Island. The Knicks list a bar in each of those, and any of them is closer to you than we are.
- You need a guaranteed sound feed for the Nets on a double-header night. Ask first, on October 25 and November 4 especially.
Which New York bar for your game?
Two questions, sixteen answers, and most of them point somewhere that is not us.
1. Whose game?
2. Where are you?
Take the official list. Ten Knicks Tap Takeover bars sit in Manhattan. Amity Hall Downtown at 80 W 3rd Street is a 12-minute walk from our West Village room, and Rocco’s at 1 W 3rd Street is 17.
Awkwardly, Bay Ridge. The Kettle Black at 8622 3rd Avenue is the only Brooklyn bar the Knicks list, and it is 5.0 miles and nearly two hours on foot from Park Slope. Most Brooklyn Knicks fans watch locally instead.
You are well served. The Knicks list Pig Beach BBQ, Break Bar and One Station Plaza in Queens, Last Stop and Rambling House in the Bronx, and Jimmy Max on Staten Island.
Check the list first. With 17 official bars inside the five boroughs, the odds are one is closer to you than we are. We would rather you had a good night than a loyal one.
There is no official answer. The Nets publish no bar list at all, so in Manhattan you are choosing on your own. Our West Village room at 118 Christopher Street is one option; ask for the sound if the Knicks are on too.
Us, 148 5th Avenue, eight minutes from the arena. No official Nets list exists, and the only league-listed Brooklyn bar belongs to the Knicks and sits five miles away in Bay Ridge.
Nothing official to follow. The Nets list no bars anywhere, in any borough. Check what your local room says on its own site before you go.
Ask before you sit down. With no official Nets list, the only reliable test is whether the bar itself says it shows the NBA. Our Brooklyn guide checks that bar by bar.
Sunday October 25 and Wednesday November 4 are the nights to plan. Both teams are home. In Manhattan most rooms will take the Knicks feed, so confirm the Nets sound if that is your game.
Park Slope, and ask about the second screen. On October 25 the Nets tip at 6:00 PM and the Knicks at 7:00; on November 4 both start at 7:30.
Go where the Knicks are listed and hope for a second screen. The Knicks have official rooms in Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island; the Nets have none anywhere.
One screen means one choice. On a double-header night ask which game gets the sound before you commit to a table.
Amity Hall Downtown, 80 W 3rd Street. On the Knicks’ own list and a 12-minute walk from our West Village room, so you have both options within a few blocks.
Us, 148 5th Avenue. Eight minutes from Barclays Center, gluten-free kitchen, and whichever game is on is on.
Follow the Knicks’ list. It is the only official guidance that exists in Queens, the Bronx or Staten Island, and all three have an entry.
Whichever room says it out loud. The useful test is not the team, it is whether the bar publishes that it shows the NBA. Most do not.
How we checked
The schedule came from the NBA’s own league feed on September 23, 2026. Every kick-off was read as a raw UTC timestamp and converted to Eastern Time in code rather than copied off a page, because listing sites render times in the reader’s own timezone and that is where bad guides come from.
Preseason was excluded by identifier, not by eye. The league marks those games Preseason and gives them a game number beginning 001; regular-season games begin 002. Seven New York games between October 5 and October 15 fall on the wrong side of that line.
The Knicks bar list was read from the team’s own Tap Takeovers page on September 23, 2026 and counted by borough. The Nets’ fan pages were checked the same day for any equivalent, and there is none. Walking distances were measured in Google Maps walking mode from our own two addresses, not estimated.
We print a television channel only where the league’s feed publishes one. When we reread it on October 21, 2026, that meant MSG / DAZN (MSG) for most Knicks games as well as the national broadcasts.
Frequently asked questions
When did the 2026-27 NBA season start in New York?
On Tuesday, October 20, when Philadelphia beat the Knicks 106-100 at Madison Square Garden. The Nets opened the following night, Wednesday, October 21, and lost 110-103 to Charlotte at Barclays Center. Games before October 20 were preseason.
Do the Knicks have official bars?
Yes. The Knicks run Tap Takeovers presented by Michelob ULTRA and publish 21 locations: 10 in Manhattan, 3 in Queens, 2 in the Bronx, 1 in Brooklyn, 1 on Staten Island and 4 outside the city in New Jersey, Westchester and Connecticut.
Do the Nets have official bars?
No. As of September 23, 2026 the Nets publish no bar network, tap takeover or watch-party list anywhere on their own site.
Where is the only official NBA bar in Brooklyn?
The Kettle Black at 8622 3rd Avenue in Bay Ridge, and it is on the Knicks’ list rather than the Nets’. From Park Slope it is 5.0 miles, about one hour and fifty-three minutes on foot.
When do the Knicks play the Nets this season?
Four times: Monday November 2 and Sunday December 27 at Madison Square Garden, then Monday February 1 and Friday April 2 at Barclays Center. The December 27 game tips at 6:00 PM Eastern and is the only weekend meeting.
What channel are the Knicks on?
The league’s own schedule feed, reread October 21, 2026, lists MSG / DAZN (MSG) for most Knicks games and a national channel for the rest: NBC and Peacock carried opening night on October 20, and Prime Video, ESPN, ABC or NBA TV have other nights. Nets home games are listed as DAZN (YES).
The verdict
If you want to watch NBA in New York and you follow the Knicks, use the team’s list — it is real, it is published, and it covers every borough. If you follow the Nets, there is no list, and the honest answer is that you are choosing a neighborhood rather than a network. In Brooklyn that means finding a room that says out loud that it shows the game; we are eight minutes from the arena and the kitchen is entirely gluten-free, which is as far as we will push it.
The Beer Garage Park Slope, 148 5th Avenue, Brooklyn, entrance on Douglass Street, with a 100 per cent gluten-free kitchen. Or the West Village at 118 Christopher Street, twelve minutes from an official Knicks bar if that is the night you want.
Sources and references
- The NBA’s own 2026-27 league schedule feed, read September 23, 2026 and rechecked October 7, 2026. Times converted from UTC to Eastern Time; preseason excluded by game identifier.
- New York Knicks Tap Takeovers, the team’s own bar list, read and counted September 23, 2026.
- Brooklyn Nets fan pages, checked September 23, 2026: no bar list published.
- Google Maps walking mode, all distances measured September 23, 2026 from 148 5th Avenue and 118 Christopher Street.
- The Beer Garage published opening hours for both locations.
Marina Charny owns The Beer Garage, with rooms at 148 5th Avenue in Park Slope and 118 Christopher Street in the West Village. For this guide the team pulled the league’s own schedule and converted every tip-off to Eastern Time, counted the Knicks’ official bar list borough by borough, checked the Nets’ own pages for an equivalent, and measured every walking distance on Google Maps.
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