Imagine – you just opened a handful of presents and cracked open a few cold ones with your family, next thing you know it’s 1:00am on Thursday and you’ve just watched 12-13 straight hours of NBA basketball. Guess what…that’s tomorrow. Most of you will still be hungover and just getting out of bed from a crazy Christmas Eve that got out of hand with Aunt Debbie. If you’re Jewish, you’re sick from all the Chinese food you ate and you lost track of the number of times you watched Elf. Nevertheless, it’s X-mas day - you made it to the couch and have started your basketball-packed day.
With so much history and storylines surrounding the long-awaited Christmas Day matchups, here’s a quick preview of what we think you should know:
Celtics (-3.5) @ Raptors – 12:00 pm
In years past, the Noon games have always been known as “the warmup game”. But, Santa Silver is treating us real well today with a matchup of two of the top four teams in the Eastern Conference. The Boston Celtics are off to a sneaky 20-7 start led by Kemba and Tatum. Surprisingly, the Raptors haven’t missed Kawhi all that much – they’re 21-9, just two games off their pace from last season. They’ll be without their sure-fire All-Star, Pascal Siakam, and vet big-man, Marc Gasol, in this contest, but injuries are nothing new to Nick Nurse’s squad. The Raptors are recently coming off a franchise record 30-point comeback win against the Mavs. That same night, Jayson Tatum dropped a career-high 39 points.
This is the first Christmas Day game the Canadians have ever hosted, so you know Scotiabank and Jurassic Park will be rockin’. And hey, maybe Drake will sing “O Canada” and call plays deep in to the 4th – who knows. Bottom line, both teams are hot and rank in the top-10 defensively. This one is gonna be scrappy, so buckle up.
Bucks (-2.5) @ Sixers – 2:30 pm
Prior to last week’s anticipated matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers, Giannis called LeBron James an “alien” for what he’s been able to do on the floor this season in year 17. Night after night, Giannis continues to prove that he is the alien. The reigning league MVP has been putting up ridiculous numbers – on a per 36-minute basis, he’s averaging nearly just as many points as James Harden – and oh by the way, he has the Bucks atop the NBA at 27-4, leading in PPG (120.6), defensive rating (101.4) and differential (+13.5).
The Sixers, on the other hand, seem to be trending in the opposite direction as of late. Following a 19-point loss at home against the Luka-less Mavs last Friday, Joel Embiid said his team was ‘playing scared’ and Head Coach Brett Brown believes the team’s recent struggles against zone defenses has gotten into their heads. Ben Simmons seemingly disappears down the stretch of big games, the Sixers lack of bench depth, and Embiid’s durability is a cause for concern as the season rolls along.
Expect the Sixers’ top-3 defense and the Philadelphia crowd to keep them in this one, but the Bucks are too good and too deep.
Rockets (-11) @ Warriors – 5:00 pm
If you can’t make it through all 12 hours of basketball, this might be the game to take a break. I might even go see Uncut Gems, which features Kevin Garnett. That still counts, right?!
When the NBA schedule was first released, this Western Conference matchup was poised to be a dandy. The Rockets and Warriors have treated fans to epic playoff series in each of the past two seasons. However, both teams look extremely different this year, to say the least.
In the fourth game of the season, Steph Curry went down with a broken left hand, all while Klay Thompson continues to rehab his torn ACL. Suddenly, injuries decimated the Warriors and instead, the franchise is can’t help but look forward to the night of May 19, 2020 – the NBA Draft Lottery, where they’ll be in the running for a top pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.
The Rockets made the last blockbuster move of a historic 2019 summer, pairing the two-headed monster of James Harden and Russell Westbrook. These all-NBA’ers have the Rockets playing great basketball (which is up for interpretation, but we can get into that another time). Houston is primed for a deep playoff run and GM Darryl Morey is on record that they want to build a team to win now.
It’s safe to say that this game could get out of hand in a hurry. With that said, these are the things that we’re watching for:
· We’ve seen almost everything, but what crazy outfit will Russell Westbrook show up to the game in?
· NBA Sneaker Champ, PJ Tucker – what will he throw on feet for the special day?
Clippers (+2.5) @ Lakers – 8:00 pm
On this Christmas Eve morning, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reported that the Lakers arranged an impromptu practice ahead of tomorrow’s game against the Clippers. As much as the players want to deny it, this is a rivalry and this game means something. The stars align for the day’s marquee matchup in what most believe is a Western Conference Finals preview in the making.
You see it on TV almost every Clippers game, owner Steve Balmer’s face turns bright red at some point as he sits courtside and passionately roots on his team. If the offseason showed us anything, it’s that he will do anything to make the Clippers champions. The result: the Clippers began the season as the favorites to win the 2020 NBA Championship and have the two best two-way players in the league in Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. This is half the story, though – the Clips have the best bench and have the best closing lineup in the league. Patrick Beverley, Lou Williams, Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, and Montrezl Harrell – someone please tell us how to score against that.
Across the court will stand LeBron and his Lakers team. People forget that LeBron sat out the last month of the 2018-19 season when the Lakers’ playoff hopes were all but over. For the past eight years, the King has been playing until Father’s Day. The extra rest in the offseason has him fresh – he leads the league in assists (10.6 per game) and will find himself in the running for MVP come season’s end. Having a sidekick like Anthony Davis hasn’t hurt either. When the two stars share the court, they have fans and other teams wondering how they will be stopped in May and June, barring any injuries, of course. As Lil Wayne once said, “this is the Lakeshow, but don’t drown though!”
You won’t want to miss this one.
Pelicans (+9.5) @ Nuggets – 10:30 pm
If you’ve made it to this last game, congrats! You deserve one last glass of eggnog (you might need two because here are two teams on completely different trajectories).
The Nuggets finished last season in disappointing fashion, losing Game 7 of the Conference Semifinals at home against the Blazers. The disappointment only carried over to start the season – franchise cornerstone Nikola Jokic came into camp overweight and, after not losing anyone crucial from last season, they just hadn’t passed the eye test. Though their first two months of the season were rather unimpressive, Denver has found another gear, which has them on a current 7-game win streak.
Zion, Zion, and oh yeah, more Zion. That’s all Pelicans fans could think about after drafting him with the first overall pick in the 2019 draft. Unfortunately, that has had to wait, as the uber-athletic forward has been sidelined with a torn right lateral meniscus. During the preseason, he showed flashes of what he could be, but he has yet to play in a regular season game. Sure, the Pelicans miss Williamson, but their current roster is not indicative of an 8-23 start. Jrue Holiday, one of the league’s most underrated two-way players, and Brandon Ingram, who is averaging over 25 PPG, have had to shoulder the load, which hasn’t been pretty.
As the final buzzer sounds, remember that NBA basketball is the gift that keeps on giving. There is always more to come, but don’t take it for granted. So, if Aunt Debbie is still awake, clink your glasses, say “cheers” to another successful NBA Christmas day, and share that last cookie with her – you earned it.
- Your Starting PG, Ben Stark
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