Ranking every game on the NBA's loaded 2026 Christmas Day schedule

As we continue to wait for the reveal of the full 2026-27 NBA schedule, the league has at least thrown us a bit of a bone to keep us satisfied. On Tuesday, we got a nice treat in the form of the 2026 Christmas Day slate, courtesy of ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania. Here's what we have in store:

With plenty of time left to kill between now and the ramp up to the 2026-27 season, let's rank this loaded slate from worst to first (keeping in mind that there are truly no bad games on Christmas day).

5. Denver Nuggets at Golden State Warriors

We'll start at the end, with the Denver Nuggets and Golden State Warriors — two of the most successful teams of the last decade — squaring off as the West Coast nightcap.

There is a real chance that these teams put together a bounce-back campaign after both saw their hopes of contention derailed by injuries in 2025-26. However, to me it seems like the NBA is paying respect to former heavyweights rather than showcasing a bout between two premier contenders.

It's always fun watching great players play basketball on Christmas, and Nikola Jokić and Stephen Curry are still two of the best in the business. But I can't help but feel like the league would've been better off showcasing rising teams like the Toronto Raptors, Detroit Pistons and even Utah Jazz (yep, I said it) on this highest of holidays.

4. Miami Heat at Boston Celtics

Over the years, Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics have had several classic bouts with both the Milwaukee Bucks and Miami Heat. Now, those two forces have kind of combined, as Giannis Antetokounmpo has taken his talents to South Beach.

It'll be interesting to see how both of these teams — each of which experienced major shakeups this offseason — are gelling by this point in the season. But this game only sits at fourth because of injury concerns with many of the marquee players (Tatum, Antetokounmpo and Paul George, to name a few) and the possibility that they could both wind up middle-of-the-pack rather than full-fledged contenders in the Eastern Conference.

3. Oklahoma City Thunder at Minnesota Timberwolves

For the last couple of years, it has always seemed like the Minnesota Timberwolves were a tier below the Oklahoma City Thunder in the West. Now, Minnesota have a chance to prove that the gap has closed. The Thunder parted ways with some important depth pieces this offseason, while the Wolves completely revamped their roster in hopes of raising their ceiling.

This will be a great litmus test for Minny to see how much they've grown, and it will be fun for fans to see LaMelo Ball blazing up and down the floor on Christmas against arguably the league's best defense. But there is a real shot that nothing the Timberwolves did this offseason matters, and the Thunder are still leagues above them. Plus, there simply isn't enough narrative juice here to unseat either of the top two choices.

2. Philadelphia 76ers at Los Angeles Lakers

LeBron James' return to Los Angeles. To be honest, this storyline is a little overrated to me: James has made so many free agency decisions at this point that it is hard to get all geeked about his first game against his old team, even if there was some bad blood between The King and the Lakers on the way out the door.

The real reason I'm so excited about this game comes on the floor. I'm fading the Philadelphia 76ers this season, and I view this game as a prime opportunity for the Lakers to show that they are the better team now and moving forward

This isn't some argument that teams get better without James. He's (probably) the greatest player of all-time. Rather, this is a declaration that you need both top-end talent and balance to win in this league. The 76ers have a lot of the former, but seem to be lacking in the latter. Meanwhile, the Lakers have both. If both sides are healthy, I'm taking L.A. to win this one.

1. San Antonio Spurs at New York Knicks

The pitch here is simple: a rematch of the 2026 NBA Finals. These games always tend to be classics, and both teams could have some question marks around them entering this matchup. How much of what the New York Knicks accomplished last postseason was just lightning in the bottle? Will their owner being a cheapskate this offseason come back to bite them? And on the flip side, did the San Antonio Spurs do enough to improve this summer? Hw will the whole De'Aaron Fox/Dylan Harper drama resolve itself?

Plus, this is the first game of the day, meaning our diminished attention spans will still be semi-intact before the madness fully begins.

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