The real start of the NBA season — Christmas Day — is upon us, and the Wizards were understandably not invited to participate in the festivities. The NBA’s Christmas games are reserved for the (theoretically) most compelling league-wide matchups, and few reasonable people would have predicted a record much better than Washington’s current 5-23 mark at this stage of the season.
That being said, Christmas Day is almost certainly the best day of hoops in the regular season, so I want to take some time
to rank today’s five matchups based on watchability, excitement, vibe, and a whole suite of other unquantifiable metrics.
I’ll be counting down from worst to best, starting with…
5. Mavericks (12-19) at Warriors (15-15) – 5 p.m. EST
If you are on dinner duty, this is the time to get cooking.
Neither one of these teams is any good, but they are both actively deluding themselves into thinking just one thing needs to break right for them. With a league-average point guard in place of Steph Curry, the Warriors would easily be the single worst team in the NBA; it might finally be over in Golden State.
Meanwhile, the Mavs actually have a decent roster, but “a decent roster” in this Western Conference guarantees you placement over New Orleans and Utah and nobody else. The Mavs need to use this year’s trade deadline to tear down this roster and surround Cooper Flagg with players more on his timeline rather than with sunsetting Hall-of-Famers.
You can bank on a barrage of Curry threes and at least one sick Flagg dunk, but for this game you’d best just stick to the highlights and spend some time with your family.
4. Cavaliers (17-14) at Knicks (20-9) — Noon EST
Almost everyone’s preseason Eastern Conference Final prediction is now looking more like a scheduled Knicks win that’s bound to get Madison Square Garden rocking. I can smell the Jalen Brunson 40-piece coming.
The Cavs have been injured and uninspiring all season long, and they probably need a 10-game winning streak just to be taken seriously again. They’ve been usurped by the Detroit Pistons (who I really, really wish were playing in their place) as the Knicks’ primary threat in the East.
Led by down-ballot MVP candidate Brunson, anyone but the Knicks making the Finals out of the Eastern Conference would be a huge upset. This team has what it takes to get smoked by the Thunder in five games in June.
This should be a decently fun game to have on in the background while you unwrap your presents from Santa. I’m personally hoping for an AC Milan jersey, a couple books about the fall of Yugoslavia, and the Trevi Fountain Lego set. Please just not coal again this year.
3. Rockets (17-10) at Lakers (19-9) — 8 p.m. EST
Now we’re on to the games that should demand more than your passive attention.
The Rockets added Kevin Durant this offseason, and they play a bruising, janitorial brand of basketball reliant on rebounding their own misses. Durant has been brilliant this season, as have Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson, and those three are flanked by a cast of the toughest, meanest role players in the NBA like Steven Adams, Jabari Smith Jr., Reed Sheppard and Tari Eason.
The Lakers, I’m not sure if you knew this, added Luka Doncic at last year’s trade deadline to pair with LeBron James and soon-to-be first-time All-Star Austin Reaves. That trio is a layup line defensively but makes for some of the most entertaining and brain-bending offensive basketball you could possibly imagine.
With Philip Rivers back under center for the Indianapolis Colts and LeBron and KD duking it out on Christmas Day, it’s a great time to be an old guy. This could be LeBron’s last Christmas Day game, so I wouldn’t miss this one.
2. Timberwolves (20-10) at Nuggets (21-8) — 10:30 p.m. EST
Timberwolves-Nuggets is the platonic ideal of “good hoops.” You’ve got the best player in the world in Nikola Jokic up against Anthony Edwards and a really well-rounded Wolves squad around him (minus the point guard position).
These are two of the juggernauts of a loaded Western Conference, and you can always count on Jokic to be up to some nonsense during the late night Christmas Day game. This game will almost certainly be down to the wire, just like Nuggets-Suns a few years ago that ended on an unfathomably disrespectful Aaron Gordon poster. Please rewatch:
I never thought I would be this excited to watch Julius Randle on Christmas Day, but here we are. This is a must-watch.
1. Spurs (22-7) at Thunder (26-4) — 2:30 p.m. EST
This right here is Gen Z hoops.
Spurs-Thunder will be the NBA’s next great rivalry, and I fully expect them to face off annually in the Western Conference Finals, starting as soon as this year. The Spurs in particular are an incredibly fun watch, especially when Victor Wembanyama is cooking like he was last Christmas when he dropped 42 points at Madison Square Garden.
The Thunder are the defending champions led by soon-to-be two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and they’re on pace for over 70 wins this season, but the Spurs are just 3.5 games back of them in the standings. Two of OKC’s four losses have come against San Antonio, and both were in dramatic fashion: the Spurs squeaked out a two-point win against the Thunder in the NBA Cup semifinal before blowing them out a couple of days ago.
Spurs-Thunder should be must-watch hoops for at least the next decade. Make sure any family members who might disrupt your viewing experience are politely ushered into another room so you can lock in on this one.
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Merry Christmas, Bullets Forever readers!
