NBA Christmas Day games: Full schedule and how to watch

As has become tradition, the NBA staked their claim to Christmas Day with a five-game schedule featuring 10 teams with championship aspirations and a slew of stars. The action will run for more than 12 hours, starting at noon ET and you won't want to miss a minute of the action.

NBA Christmas Day games: Full schedule

As usual, we're looking at fantastic slate of matchups with several key rivalries featured. The Bucks and Knicks could both be contenders for the No. 1 seed in the East. The Bucks absolutely hammered the Knicks last season, winning all three of their matchups by a combined 21 points. But the Bucks are a year older and the Knicks are that much more hungry.

The Warriors and Nuggets are the two most recent NBA champions and feature a opposite-ends-of-the-physical-spectrum matchup between the mammoth Nikola Jokic and the diminutive Stephen Curry.

The Celtics and Lakers is one of the most storied rivalries in NBA history and both teams are almost always featured on Christmas. However, they've only played each other four times on Christmas Day and just one of those matchups came in the 3-point era. This is a special treat for a special day.

The 76ers and Heat look to be two more of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. The 76ers don't have much love for former teammate Jimmy Butler and, it's possible, that the Heat could have Damian Lillard on the roster by this point after waiting out the Blazers.

The nightcap is a matchup between the Mavericks and Suns, featuring a pair of elite personal rivalries. Luka Doncic and Devin Booker are two of the best young guards in the league and they also don't particularly like each other. We'll also get to see former teammates Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving facing off.

How to watch the NBA Christmas Day schedule

The entire slate of games is on ESPN with the two mid-day games available on ABC as well. If you're looking to stream, everything will be available through ESPN+.