The marquee day on the NBA’s regular season calendar is finally here. For years, the league has made Christmas Day its biggest showcase of the year, and even as the NFL continues to increase its presence on Dec. 25, the NBA does what it can to put a number of marquee games on the calendar.
This year, through essentially no fault of the league’s own, the Christmas slate isn’t quite as tasty as it looked like it was going to be back when it was announced. Due to injuries, some surprisingly poor performances this year, and in the case of the Philadelphia 76ers both of those things, the NBA has a calendar packed with games that are good, but not showdowns between a pair of elite squads at the top of the standings.
The other side of this: With maybe one exception, none of these games should be outright bad. Each one is compelling in one way or another, and today, we wanted to look at what the NBA has in store for Christmas Day by ranking the games from worst to best.
5. Philadelphia 76ers at Boston Celtics (5 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN)
The general [gestures at everything] of this Sixers season has meant this game went from a matchup of two Eastern Conference contenders to a battle between a team scratching and clawing to make the Play-In and the defending champions. Joel Embiid and Paul George are both playing, which helps a lot in adding some excitement to this, but the stakes in this one are minimal. Maybe Philly can find its footing as the year goes on and this can turn into a very exciting first-round series, and who knows what can happen in a one-off, but with how well the Celtics are playing and how far the Sixers have to go, this game doesn’t have as much buzz as it did when the schedule makers put it all together. Still, getting to watch Jayson Tatum — who has been out of his mind this season — on a national stage should be a blast.
4. Denver Nuggets at Phoenix Suns (10:30 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN)
These two teams have some recent playoff history, with each team picking up a series win over the other en route to a Finals appearance (with Denver going on to win the title). But while there’s a bit of history there, these are two teams that are not firing on all cylinders at the moment, with Devin Booker’s status in question for the Suns as he deals with a groin injury, taking a bit of the intrigue out of the Christmas nightcap. Still, Nikola Jokic is playing at an insanely high level this season and is a threat to win his fourth MVP, while the Suns have been, unsurprisingly, a much better team with Kevin Durant in the lineup. As long as those two are going, there’s a chance for some fireworks and fun, and they’ll be plenty familiar with each other as their Christmas meeting will be their second game in a row facing each other.
3. Los Angeles Lakers at Golden State Warriors (8:00 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN)
Who knows how many more LeBron vs. Steph games we’ll get, which is reason enough to tune in, but from a team perspective, these are two teams dragging their feet a bit in the crowded West Playoff/Play-In race. Both teams seem to be desperately in need of roster upgrades, with the Warriors much better positioned to make such a move, provided they’re willing to finally part with their best assets. The Lakers, meanwhile, are in the same position we’ve seen them in since 2021, loitering around the top of the Play-In/bottom of the Playoff seeds but lacking the depth of talent to really feel like a title threat. While these are not two of the league’s elite teams, they are right next to each other in the standings and, until a move gets made by either, feel pretty evenly matched. That could yield an exciting game, even if it may not have the league-wide stakes of the LeBron vs. Steph showdowns of old.
2. San Antonio Spurs at New York Knicks (12:00 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN)
The NBA stuck its neck out a bit by scheduling this matchup before knowing whether the Spurs would really take a big step forward this season, but it looks like this will be an extremely fun opener to the Christmas slate. The Knicks have been an offensive juggernaut with the addition of Karl-Anthony Towns (even if a bit leakier than usual on defense), and every game with New York has the potential to be a shootout. The Spurs have been extremely solid this year with the additions of veterans Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes, with Victor Wembanyama continuing to live up to the hype as a budding superstar in the league, leading the team in just about every category other than assists (where the Point God continues to be masterful). The Spurs will need to have their A-game offensively in this one to keep pace with New York (who will, in turn, have to navigate the league’s best shot-blocker), but getting to see Wemby in the Christmas spotlight in the Garden should be very fun.
1. Minnesota Timberwolves at Dallas Mavericks (2:30 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN)
While the Wolves have struggled this year in the aftermath of the Karl-Anthony Towns trade, this is still a Western Conference Finals rematch between two teams that have aspirations of making it back there this year — of course, Dallas goes into Christmas Day in a much better position to do that. So, why is this so high? Easy: Both of these teams are led by superstars who are spectacular at playing their best ball on the biggest stage, and during the regular season, there is no bigger stage than Christmas Day. We fully expect Luka Doncic and Anthony Edwards to bring their very best, and while we’re more confident that Luka will get more help, Ant is good enough to keep the Wolves in it. Can they get enough from Julius Randle, Naz Reid, and co.? Or will Doncic — along with Kyrie Irving and the rest of his supporting cast — be able to score enough against a defense that is once again among the league’s elite.