Why NBA games show the wrong time or date in your calendar
An NBA game appearing an hour off, or on a different date from a US schedule, does not always mean the tipoff is wrong. First check which time zone each view uses. Then check whether you are viewing a live calendar subscription or an older imported copy.
The interactive NBA Calendar displays games in your device's local time. The dated schedule pages use Eastern dates for navigation. The same game can therefore belong to different calendar dates in those two views.
Start with this check
| What you see | Check first |
|---|---|
| The right matchup, but exactly an hour early or late | Your calendar's display time zone and the daylight saving rules for that date |
| A late US game appears the following morning | Whether your local time has crossed midnight |
| The website has a new tipoff but your calendar does not | Subscription refresh, or whether you imported a one-time file |
| Two copies of the same game at different times | Overlapping subscriptions or an older imported copy |
| A game is on the website but missing from the feed | Whether its start time is still marked Time TBA |
Compare the same matchup and game date before changing anything. You do not need to add the calendar again to diagnose a display setting.
Why the date can change
A tipoff is one moment, not a separate start time for each country. NBA Calendar's published league feed stores confirmed starts as UTC timestamps. Your calendar app converts those timestamps for display.
For an illustration, 10 p.m. in New York on November 1, 2026 is 3 a.m. in London on November 2. This is a time-zone example, not an announced game. A US schedule and a London calendar would correctly show different dates for that same moment.
Do not apply a fixed hour difference to every game throughout the season. Daylight saving changes can alter the difference between cities. Compare the actual event date, especially when travelling or around clock changes.
Check Google Calendar's time zone
Google's time-zone instructions distinguish your primary display time zone from a calendar's own settings. On a computer:
- Open Google Calendar and select Settings.
- Under General, select Time zone.
- Check Primary time zone and select the intended city or country.
- Reopen the game and compare it with the device-local NBA Calendar.
Google also provides additional time zones beside the calendar grid. That can help you compare your location with a US city without manually adding or subtracting hours. Its travel setting can ask to update your primary time zone to your current location.
You do not need to edit the time zone of someone else's subscribed calendar. Google notes that only a calendar's owner can change its calendar-level time zone. Start with your own display settings instead.
Separate a time-zone problem from an old event
If your calendar and the website agree on the time zone but disagree on the tipoff, check how you added the games:
- Subscription by URL: the app can retrieve feed changes, but it controls when it checks again. An updated website does not guarantee an immediate calendar refresh.
- Imported calendar file: the events are a copy. Downloading the latest feed does not automatically replace the events you imported earlier.
Use the setup guide for Google Calendar, Apple Calendar or Outlook to check your subscription. Do not import another copy as a time-zone fix.
For duplicate games, temporarily hide one calendar at a time to identify the source. A league subscription and a team subscription overlap for that team's games. Take care not to delete unrelated personal events while removing an old import.
What a missing game does and does not mean
Games marked Time TBA are omitted from the calendar feeds until an announced tipoff is available. A missing timed event is not automatically a failed subscription, and an unknown start should not be interpreted as midnight.
Check your team's current schedule before making plans. If the game has an announced time, compare that matchup with your subscription after checking the display time zone and refresh state.
Sources and next steps
Checked October 26, 2026:
- Google Calendar: use different time zones, including primary time zone, travel, additional zones and daylight saving behavior.
- NBA Calendar league feed, for UTC event starts and the Time TBA policy.
- Calendar subscription directory, to choose one team or the full league without creating an unnecessary duplicate.