The NBA Finals just concluded last week. The NBA draft is still days away and free agency doesn’t start for another week. Yet, chatter has already begun about the league’s Christmas Day slate. What’s interesting is the chatter among players.
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green and Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant have already engaged in a back-and-forth about playing each other on Christmas. Green and his Warriors just won the NBA championship last Thursday.
The NBA’s Christmas Day slate is viewed as the marquee day of the regular season. The league has always showcased games on Christmas, but it wasn’t until the late 1980s that it became a national tradition. In recent years, the day’s slate has emerged as the day of season before the playoffs.
NBA fans understand the magnitude of the day. Fans clamor for their favorite teams and players to be showcased on the holiday. The league has made it an effort to put the best teams, players and rivalries on display nationally. Occasionally the league will plug a big market — ala the New York Knicks — to get a TV ratings draw regardless of the team’s status.
With all those factors considered, here’s what the X-Mas day schedule could look like:
12:00 PM – Dallas Mavericks at Miami Heat – ESPN
The first game of the day pits the two Conference Finals runner-ups, the Dallas Mavericks from the West and the Miami Heat from the East.
It’s a hard stretch to put Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks in a noon game on the east coast. However, given the later slots (you’ll see) there are bigger games in place. Doncic is becoming one of the league’s best young players. Some consider him the best under the age of 27 and a potential face of the league.
Meanwhile, the Heat currently have Jimmy Butler at the center of a solid core that includes Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro. That could change depending on the reports of players the Heat are interested in acquiring.
Luka against Jimmy and that Heat defense would be entertaining for fans.
2:30 PM – Milwaukee Bucks at Boston Celtics – ABC
What better way to tip off the ABC tripleheader portion of the day than a playoff rematch between the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics. These two titans clashed in the Eastern Conference semifinals this past season, ending with the Celtics winning the series in seven games.
For another storyline, this is past two Eastern Conference champions. It will also be a rematch from last year’s Christmas Day slate. That game was played in Milwaukee and won by Milwaukee as well. But it’s Boston’s turn to be at home. The Celtics earned the right winning the playoff series.
Who wouldn’t want to see Giannis Antetokounmpo against Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown in a nationally televised game? And this time with Khris Middleton on the floor to aid Giannis?
These two teams have a rivalry brewing. Both being nominated as favorites to win the East next season will only strengthen the rivalry.
5:00 PM – Brooklyn Nets at Philadelphia 76ers – ABC
Don’t think the NBA can get any better than Milwaukee at Boston, look again. Scheduling the Brooklyn Nets to travel to play the Philadelphia 76ers makes total sense. It’s unavoidable for Christmas Day, especially after the Ben Simmons-James Harden trade.
Simmons avoided the much-anticipated return to Philadelphia with a back injury. He underwent back surgery in May and is expected to be fully recovered by training camp. Yeah, it would kind of suck to have a player booed out of the arena on Christmas Day, but the NBA is a money-making business. Simmons and Nets vs. the 76ers will draw eyes.
Aside from Simmons’ Philadelphia return, this game would be full of superstars. The Nets will have Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to go along with Simmons. Meanwhile, the 76ers will combat that with Harden and Joel Embiid.
Harden gets to play his former team and buddies, Durant and Irving. His time in Brooklyn ended on a sour note which will only amplify the intensity in the meeting.
8:00 PM – Memphis Grizzlies at Golden State Warriors – ABC/ESPN
The 8:00 p.m. time slot has been occupied by LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers since 2018. But, the game everyone wants to see is the Memphis Grizzlies against the Golden State Warriors. Twitter has already been chomping at the bits for this clash. Green and Morant have exchanged pleasantries about the potential holiday meeting.
The Grizzlies and Warriors have a rivalry brewing much like the Celtis-Bucks and 76ers-Nets. Memphis and Golden State went toe-to-toe in the Western Conference semifinals. The Warriors ultimately pulled away and won the series in six games. Morant suffered a knee injury in Game 3 and missed the rest of the series.
This rivalry had been cooking up long before their playoff series. The two met in the 8th seed play-in game in 2021 with the Grizzlies stunning the Warriors to end Golden State’s season.
Then the Grizzlies took three of four in the regular season and they let the Warriors know about it throughout the season. The Warriors kept receipts, as Warriors guard Klay Thompson revealed after Golden State claimed their fourth NBA title in eight years.
The two teams genuinely don’t like each other. That will make for great TV every time the two teams meet. Why not display the first rematch on the biggest day of the NBA’s regular season?
By the way, the game would feature two-time NBA MVP and 2022 Finals MVP Stephen Curry, Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole to go along with Green and Thompson. The Grizzlies have one of the top-four supporting casts in the league surrounding Morant. That group is led by Jaren Jackson Jr., Desmond Bane and Dillon Brooks.
10:30 PM – New Orleans Pelicans at Los Angeles Lakers – ESPN
It’s hard to believe LeBron James gets placed in the after hours time slot at 10:30 p.m. But, James and the Lakers have struggled the past two seasons. One huge factor is their health, and the league has to protect itself from another Anthony Davis injury, keeping the Lakers out of primetime. Not to mention James will be in Year 20 at the age of 39.
Once you get past the notion of James and the Lakers being in the 10:30 slot, the potential matchup between the Lakers and the New Orleans Pelicans is very appealing.
The Pelicans were a thorn in James and the Lakers side during the 2021-22 season. New Orleans swept the Lakers in three regular season meetings. The Pelicans claimed the West’s final play-in berth over the Lakers by three games in the standings.
New Orleans already featured Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum. Now the team expects to have their superstar Zion Williamson back after missing all of the 2021-22 season with injury.
The Lakers are looking to get back on track. While they ultimately will have to contend with a deep group of good teams in the West, the young Pelicans recent emergence has become a measuring stick to the Lakers resurgence.
Meet the Christmas Day snubs
There it is, the 10 teams and five games that should be the NBA’s Christmas Day slate. Certainly there are other potential candidates much like the Phoenix Suns. The Suns won the West in 2020-21, and had the best record in the league in 2021-22. But, some pundits feel they could be passed by other teams in the West next season.
One can argue bumping the Pelicans out to face the Lakers — because no way the NBA is not having LeBron on the slate. And that argument is valid. Another option is the Suns playing the Mavericks in a playoffs rematch. But to do so they’ll have to rearrange the Eastern Conference games time slots. But doable. So we’ll have to wait and see the official announcement.
Two other notable teams left out are the Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks. Trae Young at Madison Square Garden, antagonizing the Knicks fans there makes for great TV again. The league scheduled this game in 2021. But, Young sat out the game due to COVID-19 protocols.
Originally, the Hawks at Knicks was going to make this list. But the Knicks weren’t a playoff team this past season. And the NBA will capture the New York market with the Nets-76ers game. Having to make a guess, fans will have to wait to see Young rumble in the Garden on Christmas.
Sorry Nikola Jokic. This should be the second straight year, the MVP will be left off Christmas. Jokie and the Denver Nuggets will get Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. back. But, they don’t have a more intriguing rivalry as the others. And Jokic isn’t a bigger draw than Luka.
The Utah Jazz, who are coincidentally the Nuggets’ most natural rivals, face too much uncertainty this offseason to assume a Christmas Day game. Quin Snyder has already stepped away as the Jazz head coach and there are more changes expected. Some see Jazz center Rudy Gobert being moved. Others hint to Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell possibly pushing his way out of Utah.
