At least one young superstar is thrilled to be playing on Christmas Day.
For Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, it’s a badge of honor. The Bucks haven’t been part of the NBA’s Christmas showcase since 1977.
“It’s real special. We’re really excited about this game,” he told Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “The Bucks haven’t played in a long time in a Christmas game, so we’re happy that we’re back. “Since I came to the NBA, I was always watching the Christmas games, always dreaming about playing in one. … It means a lot to us and hopefully we can put on a show.”
The Bucks are one of the league’s most entertaining and high-scoring teams but their game is merely an appetizer. They face the floundering Knicks, who have won just two of their last 13 games.
There are generally mixed feelings about playing on Christmas around the NBA. Some players love the spotlight and the drama. Others, especially the road teams, believe it’s unfair to be away from their homes and families. However, it’s a tradition that’s not going away.
The games that follow the Bucks–Knicks matchup should provide plenty of holiday entertainment for sports fans beyond the unwrapping of presents and piles of food on the plate.
The Thunder play the Rockets, featuring an entertaining duel between the last two MVPs, Russell Westbrook and James Harden. Then comes the Sixers-Celtics showdown, a potential preview of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Naturally, LeBron James will be playing on Christmas as the Lakers face Kevin Durant and the Warriors. The guards take the spotlight in the final game of the day when the Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum square off against the Jazz’s Donovan Mitchell and Ricky Rubio.
That takes us to our question of the day: Which Christmas Day game are you most interested in and why?
Please take to the comments section. We look forward to your input.
Hm
Apparently not too much interest.
Tomorrow’s games ranked:
1. LAL-GSW is the most highly anticipated and a potential WCF preview.
2. PHI-BOS. Embiid is so much fun to watch, two young teams on the rise, former ROTY winners.
3. HOU-OKC. 2 of the best guards in the league, PG13, and 2 teams that are hopefuls to come out of the West.
4. MIL-NYK. Giannis is the only reason to watch this game.
5. POR-UTA. Last game of the day, this could either be a blowout or really tight, nothing in between.
Starting with the most exciting:
Lakers v Warriors
Thunder v Rockets
Sixers v Celtics
Celtics and Sixers would have been #1 except they just played each other a couple weeks ago on national TV.
Looking forward to Rockets-Thunder and Celtics-Sixers. Lakers will get blown out.
Be easier to see all the games if they didn’t do this on Christmas!
GSW-LAL is a must, and PHL-BOS because I keep criticizing them, gotta be sure of things. OKC-HOU might get too fast-paced to get a handle on, with all the distractions, I remember from last year.