5 NBA things to watch for on Christmas Day

The NBA’s annual Christmas Day slate is full of interesting storylines and not just the ones involving the league’s two best teams. Here are five things — one from each game — to watch for on December 25.

5. Knicks vs. Celtics

At one point this year, the New York Knicks were third in the Eastern Conference. They have faded slightly but remain in the middle of the playoff race. On that level, they seem to be improved over past years.

Deeper numbers, however, don’t paint a good picture of the Knicks. They are in the bottom third of in terms of net rating and have played a fairly easy schedule to date. And in the cases where they’ve faced good teams — the Cavs twice, the Warriors — they’ve looked completely out of their depth.

Christmas offer the Knicks a chance to prove themselves as something more, or at least as a team with the potential to get better. The Celtics are legitimately a good team — top-10 in net rating, currently the third team behind Toronto and Cleveland, and they feature a lot of really, really good players that can push New York. Isaiah Thomas is probably going to dominate Derrick Rose. Jae Crowder can work to take Carmelo Anthony out of the game. Al Horford is maybe a bit smaller than Kristaps Porzingis, but he’s smart and skilled enough to make New York’s best player struggle in what could be a showcase performance.

A Knicks win here — particularly one with substance, where it feels like they actually just took it to the Celtics — would perhaps open New York up to the possibility of becoming something more than an average or below average East team that’s surprisingly in the playoffs. But if it goes bad — and it feels like it might — it probably will confirm what we already seem to know.