{"id":88672,"date":"2024-08-02T16:23:10","date_gmt":"2024-08-02T20:23:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=88672"},"modified":"2024-08-02T17:22:42","modified_gmt":"2024-08-02T21:22:42","slug":"predicting-the-nbas-2024-christmas-day-schedule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/08\/02\/predicting-the-nbas-2024-christmas-day-schedule\/","title":{"rendered":"Predicting The NBA\u2019s 2024 Christmas Day Schedule"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The NBA on Christmas Day is a holiday tradition like no other in sports. Each year some of the best matchups and most anticipated of the year happen on Christmas Day. With the release of the NBA schedule likely right around the corner now feels like the perfect time to predict this year\u2019s slate of Christmas games.<\/p>\n<h2>Predicting The NBA\u2019s 2024 Christmas Day Schedule<\/h2>\n<h3>Nuggets vs. 76ers: 12:00 p.m. EST<\/h3>\n<p>There\u2019s typically at least one inter-conference matchup on Christmas Day. What could be better than the two frequent MVP front-runners and the greatest current-<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2023\/07\/18\/nikola-jokic-won-finals-and-joel-embiid-didnt-why\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">player rivalry<\/a>? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jokicni01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-02_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nikola Jokic<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/e\/embiijo01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-02_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joel Embiid<\/a> games are always noteworthy and exciting. The two elite centers have vastly different play styles adding to the intrigue. Jokic\u2019s all-around impact is unmatched with his basketball IQ and passing being his most unique skill set. In contrast, Embiid is a dominant interior force and an unstoppable scorer.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Nikola Jokic vs  Joel Embiid \ud83d\udd25 BIG MAN DUEL \ud83d\udd25 Full Highlights\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Hr0klhUR4W4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>It would be interesting to see Embiid take on Jokic with his improved squad and the addition of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/georgpa01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-02_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Paul George<\/a>. Furthermore, the guard battle between <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/murraja01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-02_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jamal Murray<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/maxeyty01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-02_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tyrese Maxey<\/a> would be highly entertaining. This matchup has all the elements of a great Christmas Day game. Let&#8217;s just hope both Jokic and Embiid play.<\/p>\n<h3>Thunder vs. Timberwolves: 2:30 p.m. ET<\/h3>\n<p>The Thunder and Timberwolves are the two favorites in the Western Conference. The T-Wolves are coming off a conference finals run while OKC the reigning top seed had one of the league&#8217;s best <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/07\/31\/grading-every-western-conference-teams-offseason\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">offseasons<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gilgesh01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/e\/edwaran01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-02_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Anthony Edwards<\/a> are two of the most entertaining guards. Shai and Edwards are two of the most gifted scorers in the league on a premier Christmas Day game at least one of these stars would have a massive game.<\/p>\n<p>With OKC\u2019s improvements and Minnesota\u2019s elite defense, this game would be highly exciting. As would, the matchup between <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/holmgch01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-02_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chet Holmgren<\/a> and Minnesota\u2019s big men <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/townska01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-02_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Karl-Anthony Towns<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/goberru01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-02_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rudy Gobert<\/a>. While this hasn\u2019t been a playoff matchup yet this would be a great chance for the NBA to develop a rivalry with two of the league\u2019s biggest stars. The parallel between two small market teams led by a gifted young star is also intriguing.<\/p>\n<h3>Knicks vs. Celtics: 5:00 p.m. ET<\/h3>\n<p>The Celtics and Knicks are two of the NBA\u2019s most historic franchises. They were also the top two seeds last season and the favorites in the East this upcoming season. Making this a perfect Christmas Day matchup. Clearly, the Knicks&#8217; trade for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bridgmi01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-02_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mikal Bridges<\/a> and wing pairing with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/anunoog01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-02_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">OG Anunoby<\/a> is to match up with the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/06\/18\/4-reasons-why-the-celtics-won-the-nba-championship\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">champs<\/a>&#8216; elite wing duo of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/tatumja01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-02_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jayson Tatum<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/brownja02.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-02_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jaylen Brown<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"CELTICS at KNICKS | FULL GAME HIGHLIGHTS | February 24, 2024\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/PzmRtCsZ2Z0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Seeing this play out along with both team&#8217;s elite all-around balance would be very compelling. Watching the Celtics&#8217; elite perimeter defenders <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/holidjr01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-02_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jrue Holiday<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/whitede01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-02_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Derrick White<\/a> go against one of the league\u2019s most prolific scorers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/brunsja01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-02_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jalen Brunson<\/a> would also be intriguing. Ultimately this will be one of the premier matchups of the year making it perfect for a primetime Christmas slot.<\/p>\n<h3>Spurs\u00a0vs.\u00a0Lakers\u00a08:00 p.m. ET<\/h3>\n<p>As one of the league\u2019s most iconic franchises and with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jamesle01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-02_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LeBron James<\/a> the Lakers will of course get a Christmas game. Many draw parallels between <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/05\/07\/wemby-and-the-5-others-to-win-rookie-of-the-year-unanimously\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">LeBron<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/wembavi01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-02_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Victor Wembanyama<\/a> due to their upside and hype as prospects so seeing them face off on Christmas Day would be perfect. This matchup would notably feature two of the league\u2019s best <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/07\/24\/the-best-defender-on-every-western-conference-nba-team\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">defenders<\/a> Wemby and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/davisan02.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-02_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Anthony Davis<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>With the Spurs&#8217; offseason additions including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/paulch01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-02_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chris Paul<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/barneha02.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-02_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Harrison Barnes<\/a>, and fourth overall pick <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/castlst01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-02_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stephon Castle<\/a> along with Wemby\u2019s development the team is projected to improve a ton. As a result, this would be a highly competitive matchup. Seeing LeBron go against his old friend CP3 would also be a fun storyline. Overall the matchup between two different generational talents could be too much for the league to pass up on.<\/p>\n<h3>Mavericks vs. Warriors 10:30 p.m. ET<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/curryst01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Steph Curry<\/a> is still one of the NBA\u2019s biggest stars and certainly deserves a Christmas Day game. Watching him going head-to-head with his former splash brother <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/thompkl01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-02_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Klay Thompson<\/a> would be a perfect matchup, especially if it&#8217;s Klay&#8217;s first game back in <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/07\/02\/nba-trade-grades-klay-thompson-reportedly-passes-up-more-money-to-sign-with-mavericks-how-did-each-of-the-3-teams-involved-in-the-sign-and-trade-make-out\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Golden State<\/a>. A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/doncilu01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-02_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Luka Doncic<\/a>-Curry matchup would be incredibly entertaining.<\/p>\n<p>While the Warriors aren\u2019t a contender unless they make a big trade they are still one of the most exciting teams to watch and can be competitive on any given night. This game would give us plenty of offensive fireworks and elite shooting. Additionally, Curry has had some classic Christmas Day matchups with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/i\/irvinky01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-02_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kyrie Irving<\/a>. Ultimately this\u00a0would be a perfect late-night matchup. If it happened it could end up being the most exciting game of the slate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The NBA on Christmas Day is a holiday tradition like no other in sports. Each year some of the best matchups and most anticipated of the year happen on Christmas Day. With the release of the NBA schedule likely right around the corner now feels like the perfect time to predict this year\u2019s slate of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4779,"featured_media":88676,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,1608,5,30,20,25,26,21,12,22,13,34],"tags":[240,2109,1090,1417,450,798,267,239,213,70,406,38,1133,1484,1341,4674,72,1082,50,394,1489,48,2478,4669],"class_list":["post-88672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-basketball","category-celtics","category-mavericks","category-nuggets","category-warriors","category-lakers","category-timberwolves","category-knicks","category-thunder","category-76ers","category-spurs","tag-anthony-davis","tag-anthony-edwards","tag-derrick-white","tag-jalen-brunson","tag-jaylen-brown","tag-jayson-tatum","tag-joel-embiid","tag-jrue-holiday","tag-karl-anthony-towns","tag-klay-thompson","tag-kyrie-irving","tag-lebron-james","tag-luka-doncic","tag-mikal-bridges","tag-nba-christmas-day","tag-nba-schedule","tag-nikola-jokic","tag-og-anunoby","tag-paul-george","tag-rudy-gobert","tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander","tag-stephen-curry","tag-tyrese-maxey","tag-victor-wembanyama"],"modified_by":"Eamon Cassels, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4779"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88672\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}