Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! December 25 is one of the marquee dates on the NBA’s calendar, with the league offering up the following five-game slate to audiences this year, in order of tip-off:
- Philadelphia 76ers at New York Knicks
- Los Angeles Lakers at Dallas Mavericks
- Milwaukee Bucks at Boston Celtics
- Memphis Grizzlies at Golden State Warriors
- Phoenix Suns at Denver Nuggets
Given that the schedule is created months in advance, it’s a virtually impossible task for the NBA to pick the 10 best teams for its Christmas Day schedule. You could argue that’s not even the goal — after all, it’s probably safe to assume NBA executives didn’t expect the Knicks and Lakers to be top-10 teams this season. They were chosen to play on December 25 because of the size of their respective markets and fan bases.
Still, the NBA did reasonably well with this season’s schedule. The Sixers and Knicks have both surged in December and enter today’s game on hot streaks. The Bucks/Celtics matchup is a clash of the two clubs who have traded the East’s No. 1 seed back and forth for much of the season. And with Devin Booker back, the Suns and Nuggets (both top-four seeds in the West) will have all their stars available for the late game tonight.
Injuries to Anthony Davis and Stephen Curry take some of the luster off the Lakers’ and Warriors‘ games, and both clubs have struggled this season anyway. Still, the defending champions are assured of a spot on Christmas Day, and their opponent – the Grizzlies – is one of the league’s most exciting teams, so it’s hard to complain about that game. The Mavericks/Lakers contest is the worst of the bunch based on the two teams’ records, but it will still feature LeBron James vs. Luka Doncic.
Which teams not in action today deserved a Christmas Day showcase? In the East, you could make a case for the Cavaliers and the Nets, but Cleveland wasn’t expected to be quite this good this soon, and Brooklyn’s roster appeared to be very much in flux when the NBA was setting its schedule, as Kevin Durant wryly observed earlier this week (Twitter video link via Ian Begley of SNY.tv).
It would have been great to see a full-strength Pelicans squad playing on Christmas, but they weren’t considered a sure thing entering the season, and Zion Williamson‘s health is always a question mark — he has actually missed the last two games, while Brandon Ingram has been sidelined since November 25, so New Orleans likely wouldn’t have had its full arsenal available today.
The Clippers are another notable omission out West, and the NBA probably wouldn’t have minded finding room for them on the schedule with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George healthy and beginning to round into form.
We want to know what you think of this year’s December 25 schedule. Which of today’s games are you most excited about? Which ones do you think you might skip? Which teams are you disappointed not to see playing today?
Head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!
Warriors are most likely down 3 starters for the game so ESPN/ABC will just get a scrimmage game instead of a real NBA game. just a shame neither team will get bragging rights of who is the better team.
Grizzlies -8. Time to make some serious cash !! Griz will probably Coast and win by 28.
Only 8? Vegas better jump that up to 20 or they will lose big. Everyone knows the Grizzlies will run up the score because they are on national TV.
I’m not a real big Gambler I just look at the odds on the ESPN NBA scoreboard.
link to espn.com
Hopefully you didn’t – GSW made a statement and shut up Ja Mouthrant
Well, well, well…