The Miami Heat defeated the Los Angeles Clippers at the sixth annual NBA China Games on October 11 in Beijing.
On October 7, the NBA Mexico Games 2012 were played between the New Orleans Hornets and Orlando Magic.
The regular season started on October 30, 2012, when the 2011–12 NBA champions Miami Heat defeated the Boston Celtics 120–107.
The NBA's annual Christmas games featured, in chronological order, the Boston Celtics at the Brooklyn Nets, the New York Knicks at the Los Angeles Lakers, the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Miami Heat, the Houston Rockets at the Chicago Bulls, and the Denver Nuggets at the Los Angeles Clippers (thus the Staples Center was in the rare situation of hosting two NBA games on the same day).
A regular season game took place at the O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom between the Detroit Pistons and the New York Knicks on January 17, 2013.