In advance of the full NBA regular season schedule release on Thursday, August 14, the league put forth its Christmas Day slate in official fashion on Tuesday. As usual, the NBA pulled out all the stops to showcase its most intriguing teams on the holiday, headlined by the biggest stars in the sport.
Of note this year, four of the five games feature Western Conference teams, representing a massive shift from the traditional scheduling practice. Some of that can undoubtedly be traced to teams like the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers operating without key stars like Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton this season, but it still represents quite a dichotomy.
Alas, the goal in this space is to rank the five matchups from best to worst, keeping in mind that it is (clearly) a subjective exercise. On the bright side for the NBA, all of the matchups have clear appeal, so this is a challenging task. Here we go.
5. Dallas Mavericks at Golden State Warriors
To the above point, this is a very interesting matchup ... that also happens to be the worst of the day from an overall quality standpoint. Golden State projects to be a strong team, particularly with Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler healthy. However, the Warriors are not widely projected to be title contenders, and Dallas could be the worst of the ten teams showcased on Christmas. The Mavericks do have No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg, which explains part of why they are included, but without Kyrie Irving, Dallas drags this one down a bit.
4. San Antonio Spurs at Oklahoma City Thunder
This one is simple: Victory Wembanyama against the reigning NBA champions. The Spurs are probably the other contender (alongside the Mavs) for worst team included on Christmas, but Wembanyama and De'Aaron Fox would like to change that. Obviously, the Thunder have clear appeal with the reigning MVP and a title-winning core that returns for another season. This will be a fun game.
3. Houston Rockets at Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers were always likely to get a Christmas Day home game. There is an argument to be made that the team's appeal might outweigh its quality, but Los Angeles does project to be quite good with Luka Doncic, LeBron James, and company. On the other side, the Rockets have added Kevin Durant to an already impressive team, and the fact that the game is in Los Angeles should make it more competitive. Also, there is some real appeal to Durant and James facing off at this stage.
2. Cleveland Cavaliers at New York Knicks
The lone East game happens to be a (very) good one. In fact, it pits the top two projected teams in the conference. The Cavaliers raced to the No. 1 seed last year, only to flame out, but Cleveland is the betting favorite to make the NBA Finals this season. New York has MSG on its side, but the Knicks are also trying to follow up on a Conference Finals appearance. This is a very good way to start the day in the lunch-time window.
1. Minnesota Timberwolves at Denver Nuggets
For the non-sickos, the Wolves-Nuggets matchup might be lower, and I understand that. Neither is a "glamour market" and, if you care about that, having the game at No. 1 will be odd. From a basketball standpoint, though, this is a very, very fun games. There is recent playoff history between the teams. Nikola Jokic is playing in the game. Anthony Edwards is playing in the game. Both teams project to be (quite) good this season. It's the nightcap, but it's worth staying up late for on Christmas.