Rate The 2018 NBA Christmas Day Schedule
People love Christmas for a variety of reasons. Some enjoy the time with family, some enjoy the presents, if you’re in college maybe you’re home from break, and for some of us it’s a day to do nothing but watch hours and hours of clearly hung over basketball. I know in my house it’s a big day to order far too much Chinese food and watch nothing but basketball until I ultimately fall asleep on my couch. There is nothing better than betting every goddamn under on every Christmas game (h/t Big Cat) and watching some of the best matchups the league has to offer. Heading into these games, as long as you understand the basketball is going to be rough, especially in the early games, it’s definitely one of the best yearly traditions for any NBA fan.
Which brings us to this year’s crop of games. When I first saw the list of matchups, I can’t lie I really like every single game. Each matchup has it’s own intriguing storyline and while some may have been predictable it’s ultimately a great day of games. Seeing as how I’m craving anything 2018-19 related, let’s have a look at each pairing
Bucks vs Knicks – 12pm
Christmas at the Garden is always an event, and what better way to get people to watch than bringing Giannis to the Mecca. Listen, all signs point to this being another leap year for Giannis which means we’re talking legit MVP candidate, but a big part of that leap has to be improved team success. On December 23rd of last season the Bucks were 17-14, that’s not so hot. Having Giannis on this stage with the potential to do something crazy is a no brainer for the NBA. You obviously want to do everything you can to get Giannis as much exposure as possible, and you bet your ass a shit ton of people are going to tune into the first Christmas game.
It will also be interesting to see Kevin Knox play in this game. More often than not, the elites of the league usually show out in a Christmas game, so I can’t wait to see how he played. It’s all relative really as he’ll be in just the first few months of his NBA career, but you’ll be able to get a feel just by watching him.
Thunder vs Rockets – 3pm
I see you Adam Silver. Now things are serious. I don’t even know where to begin with this one. I guess the obvious starting place of Melo vs his old team. You know the one that’s happy he’s gone. Something tells me Paul George and Russell Westbrook are going to be foaming at the mouth to find Melo in isolation. Then you factor in that OKC won two out of the three meetings last year, including one in Houston and on this very day. That’s right, these two teams played on Christmas last year, so you have to add in the revenge factor there. Now all three games were decided by 10 points or less, so it’s not like there were any crazy blowouts either. When these two teams match up, it’s a slugfest. Then you factor in the storyline of two MVPs and former teammates going head to head and that’s the icing on the cake.
With the moves the Rockets have made this summer, it wouldn’t shock me if OKC felt like it had a chance to challenge them in the West this upcoming season. Who knows, when it’s all said and done they may meet each other in a playoff series. If Giannis was the appetizer, this is a damn good first course.
Sixers vs Celtics – 5:30pm
Why does the NBA hate the Sixers? Is it because Brian Colangelo made the Sixers look like a joke of a franchise? Being run by complete morons? That’s the only explanation I can think of because if you take this game, and then believe the whispers that these two are also going to play in Boston on Opening Night, the league is putting the Sixers in a terrible position.
This was one of the matchups that was fairly predictable as it’s clear the league wants PHI/BOS to become a thing. Two teams filled with dominant young talent poised to be the top two teams in the East for a long time. But here’s the problem, as sexy as this matchup looks on paper, it has extreme blowout potential, and I’m talking in either direction. On one hand we know that the Sixers have absolutely no way to match up with the Celtics. And that was without Kyrie and Hayward. Given what we know about PHI inability to win basketball games at any level (Summer League included) against the Celtics it’s very possible we see them run the Sixers out of the gym.
But here’s where I tell fellow Celtics fans, not so fast my friends. You see the Celtics are 13-18 all time on Christmas, which is why personally I am irate they are playing for the second year in a row (they lost to WSH last year at home). In other words
Somewhat likely the Celtics lay one of their classic eggs and get blown out.
Lakers vs Warriors – 8:00pm
The other predictable matchup, you knew we were going to see LeBron vs GS. There’s a more than decent chance this game is over after the first 12 minutes, and who knows maybe this will be the first time these two play each other. Listen I’m just saying the Warriors have won 7 straight against the Lakers and you say well they have LeBron now and I say yeah well the Warriors may have Boogie. And they don’t even need him to still blow out this team.
If this game was being played in LA maybe I give the Lakers more than a chance, but a team that was 15-26 on the road last year isn’t exactly likely to walk into Oracle, where the Warriors were 34-7 and pull out a win. And just so you know, the Cavs went 21-20 on the road last year with LeBron in a weaker conference.
Trail Blazers vs Jazz – 10:30pm
With this matchup we now have every team in the Top 5 from the West last season playing in this game. Basically the NBA is admitting they know the West is dominant and should be shown the most. Personally, I love this matchup, especially as the night cap. Two teams that were separated by 1 games last year, the difference between the 3 seed and the 5 seed, and split the season series 2-2 with each team winning in the other’s arena. From a talent perspective you get Dame/CJ and Donovan Mitchell all on a national spotlight where that’s just enough firepower to keep fans interested. Then you factor in that a lot of people are picking UTA to be in that Top 3/4 conversation, and POR scratching tooth and nail to maintain their place as the 3rd best team in the West.
While the current matchups should provide an awesome day of basketball, it’s also interesting to see who didn’t get the Christmas Day nod. Teams like TOR not getting a game is weird considering the top 5 from the West are playing. TOR/PHI would have been nice to see since Sixers fans were convinced they were going to get Kawhi. I also would have liked IND/PHI, a great battle to see if PHI can keep the team nipping at their heels at bay. That’s a different mentality than trying to punch above your weight class.
In the West, what about POR/NO, and have it be the first meeting since the playoff sweep. Who doesn’t want to watch Anthony Davis play? Pretty interesting that the league went Mitchell over Davis if you ask me.
All in all, I’d rate this year’s Christmas matchups a respectable 8.3/10. It gives us the names we want to see, the storylines we’ve been following all summer, but still has the potential for more than a few blowouts. Now who the hell knows what these team look like once we get to December, if you remember a team’s look can change entirely in the opening five minutes of a season. So let us all pray that everyone on all these teams are healthy and playing well, and let’s have ourselves a great day of basketball.