Everything You Need To Know To Be Ready For The NBA's Awesome Christmas Day Slate
For some out there, the NBA season doesn't truly start until Christmas. They need to let around 30 games be played before they decide to watch or even give a shit. Insane behavior in my opinion, but that's what a lot of casual NBA fans say/do. Personally I think they're missing some awesome basketball, but to each their own.
The good news is, we're here. Christmas is tomorrow which means one of the best days of the year is upon us. And sure, I imagine there are some reading this who will go the hardo route and talk about how it's actually an NFL football day tomorrow, but to that I would say no one here cares. This is a basketball blog for people who enjoy NBA basketball.
The NBA usually comes through in terms of matchups for this special day, and tomorrow is no exception. All 5 games shape up to be must watch (at least on paper), and that's before you add in all the surrounding context to each matchup. So for this blog, that's what we're going to do. We're going to get you ready for what should be an awesome day of hoops and avoiding your family after you open all your presents.
Let's go in order of the games
New York Knicks vs Milwaukee Bucks
MIL Record: 22-7
NYK Record: 16-12
H2H Record: 3-0 in favor of MIL
I can understand why the league thought this was a Christmas Day worthy game when the season started. A high powered Bucks offense going up against the tough defensive minded Knicks at MSG. Unfortunately, the reality of the situation is the fact that this is simply a brutal matchup for the Knicks. Dating back to November 2021, the Bucks have now beaten the Knicks 9 straight times, including all 3 meetings this season. The Knicks are now dealing with Mitchell Robinson out for the year, so things are even more of a disadvantage when it comes to dealing with the Bucks size.
Just recently we had the 130-111 Bucks win on the 3rd, before that they put up 146 in a game they won by 24. It's happened both at home and at MSG. This isn't to say the Knicks can't have a day and take advantage of the early start at home, but I would just ask how would that be any different from the game they just played? That was an early day game at MSG and the Bucks got whatever they wanted. In the NBA, sometimes a team is just a bad matchup for you and that's what this is for the Knicks. Even with Jalen Brunson and Randle playing well, they have a firepower issue and a size issue. The second Hartenstein gets into foul trouble, what do they do? Turn to Taj Gibson? That's not going to slow down Giannis I'm afraid.
The only chance the Knicks have is they have to find a way to defend the three point line. Letting the Bucks go 16-32 (50%) like they did on Saturday is a death wish. You can concede the big Giannis game where he dominates inside like he did yesterday, but if you're going to allow that you have to do 2 things.
1. Limit the 3s
2. Rebound
The Knicks did neither of those things (allowed 12 OREB), and they got their ass kicked. If they want to stand a chance tomorrow, something's gotta give. You can't let Giannis get what he wants, allow everyone to get easy looks, and then also find a way to rebound a large percentage of those looks that happen to miss.
Golden State Warrriors vs Denver Nuggets
GS Record: 15-14
DEN Record: 21-10
H2H Record: 1-0 in favor of DEN
Welcome to the matchup of the two hottest teams in the Western Conference at the moment. The Warriors, winners of a conference leading 5 games in a row, have responded by taking advantage of a bit of a soft spot in their schedule. During this streak, they've beaten the Nets, Blazers (2x), Wizards, and Celtics, with 4 of those 5 coming at home. It's gotten them back into the Play In, and as things stand today they're just 2 games out of a top 6 seed. So far, they've been able to survive and make up ground during the Draymond suspension.
Then there's the Nuggets, winners of 4 in a row, who have leaped over OKC for 2nd in the West. Their wins are a pretty similar mix of mostly easy teams: DAL/TOR/BKN/CHA, with the main difference is that 3 of those 4 came in the road. If you expand it out a little bit, the Nuggets have currently won 7 of 8 after their little 3 game skid. Now with Jamal Murray back, they're starting to round back into form.
That'll be the biggest difference in tomorrow's game between these two teams. The first time around, Murray was out, and the Nuggets pulled out the narrow 108-105 win. Draymond was out as well, but that's more of the same for tomorrow.
There was also of course the 2022 playoff series where the Warriors took care of the Nuggets in 5 games, but again Murray wasn't around for that one either.
In fact, since the 2022-23 season, the Nuggets have currently won 4 in a row against GS, with Murray playing in 2 of those games. It certainly helps that 3 of the last 4 meetings have come in Denver, but tomorrow is also in Denver so make sure you keep that in mind. The Nuggets are 11-2 in their own building this year, with only the Wolves being better in the West (12-1). Last year the Nuggets went 34-7 in that building during the year, and then 10-1 in the playoffs. That's about as tough a place to win as a road team that there is in the entire league. For a GS team that's only 6-8 on the road this year, it'll certainly be a challenge.
But if there's one thing we know, it's to never doubt Steph Curry. You give him a big game in a big spot on national television, he's going to show up looking for blood. Trust me, I've lived it way too many times. I also get the sense that Jokic will stop "coasting" like he has been against the bad teams recently and be at his best tomorrow too. You won't find me complaining about two of the best players in the league going head to head, but I have serious questions about how the Warriors handle the Nuggets size.
This isn't going to be like the Celts who have size who also love to shoot 3s. The Nuggets don't really take a ton of 3s, and outside of Looney it's not as if the Warriors have the bodies to even bother Jokic. Now also having to deal with Jamal Murray, something they haven't had to do yet this season is certainly going to be a challenge. For the Nuggets it's the same questions as always. Can they survive the non-Jokic minutes? Do you just match him and Steph? Which young piece on their bench will show up in a massive game with millions watching? Who knows how their nerves impact things given this is the first Christmas Day game for a few of their rotation players.
Boston Celtics vs Los Angeles Lakers
BOS Record: 22-6
LAL Record: 16-14
H2H Record 0-0
Ah yes, the greatest rivalry in NBA history. It sounds cliche to say, but you can pretty much always throw everything out the window when these two teams play. However dominant one side might look, or how much one side might be struggling, these two always seem to deliver must watch games. Since the 2013-14 season, at least one of the two games between the Celts and Lakers is close, often times decided by 7 points or less. Both games last year went into OT, and how could we forget how those games ended
So yeah, I fully expect another battle tomorrow night in LA. The Celts coming off their great wins against SAC/LAC, this is still the final game of a long West Coast trip. There's potential to look ahead after being gone for so long, but this is Celtics/Lakers. I can't imagine everyone on both sides isn't extremely locked in. Hopefully both sides are at full strength because I think we all want to see how this matchup looks. The Celts choked their chance in the IST, and we all know these games will always mean more than just a normal regular season matchup.
Even with LeBron already trying to plant the excuses about how it's no big deal and he doesn't care about the game
Only a fool would take that bait. Every Celtics fan knows he cares about this game. He cares about every game vs BOS and that is especially true as a Laker. That doesn't mean the family stuff isn't also true, but he cares. He wouldn't be LeBron if he didn't.
For the most part, these two tend to split the season series. Since 2014-15, they've split it 7 times, with the only 2 years someone won both was the Celts in 2022-23 and the Celts in 2016-17 (shoutout Top 5 MVP Isaiah). Some are more controversial than others, but go cry about it.
It's going to be a fascinating battle of style, as the Lakers can't shoot for shit but have elite size and the Celts have a lethal combo of size that can also shoot. If we see them shoot the ball like they have against the Kings and Clippers, I'm not so sure the Lakers have the ability to keep that pace. But at the same time, nobody gets to the line more than the Lakers, and their defense is legit. A healthy Anthony Davis can dominate a game defensively, and then you know we're getting throwback LeBron on Christmas. It should be another great battle between two teams that tend to deliver awesome games against each other.
Philadelphia 76ers vs Miami Heat
PHI Record: 20-8
MIA Record: 17-12
H2H Record: 0-0
You can look around all you want, you will not find a player who has been more dominant to start the season than Joel Embiid. Hate the Sixers or not, think they're playing an easy schedule so far or not (26th), that's the simple truth when it comes to talking about Embiid's production right now. It's been better than his MVP season pretty much across the board. I mean these are 2K numbers
40/12/5 on 60/42% in the month of December is flat out disgusting. Again, I know what the schedule says and I can see the teams he's played, but you still have to go out and consistently produce like this. I do think Embiid deserves credit for that.
The question then becomes, what the hell do the Heat do? Bam Adebayo is a tremendous defender who can hold his own against anyone, but after him how do the Heat plan on handling this level of Embiid? With Kevin Love? Here's what we're going to learn when it comes to the Sixers. So far, they are just 6-7 this season against teams .500 or better. When you look at their best wins, (BOS, MIN, LAL, PHX) those all came at home. Once they hit the road, things don't look so hot with losses in MIL/BOS/MIN.
Well now here come the Heat. A team that is playing much better as of late (5-2), who have beaten the Sixers in 5 of their last 8 meetings, and who I'm sure will have an active and motivated Jimmy Butler. You don't think he'll enjoy getting some revenge on the Sixers, reminding them of what they passed on?
To me, this is a statement game opportunity for both sides. For the Sixers, it allows them to back up what we've seen against dogshit teams, with a high quality win on the road. For the Heat, it tells us that this is not the 2022-23 Heat that are going to flirt with the Play in and hope for a prayer. They look much more like the 2021-22 Heat to me, now that their outside shooting has stablized. If they can figure out a way to at least make things tough for Embiid, it'll be interesting to see how the rest of the Sixers respond. You know Spo is going to cook up something defensively, I would imagine they play a decent amount of zone until the Sixers can prove they can beat it, but it also wouldn't shock me if Embiid goes for another 50 and carries.
UPDATE
https://x.com/shamscharania/status/1739037141949206731?s=46&t=kPi69Xvf2PNTd-905-cjCAWell you can pretty much forget everything I wrote for this game prior to that news dropping. Safe to say that takes some wind out of the sails of this matchup, and I’d say even more pressure now gets put on the Heat. You can’t be losing at home to the Embiid-less Sixers. As far as Philly is concerned this is how a house money game, because with no Embiid who gives a shit
Dallas Mavericks vs Phoenix Suns
DAL Record: 17-12
PHX Record: 14-14
H2H Record: 0-0
OK, so the bad news is the Suns might stink. Already dealing with Bradle Beal being out again, I think we're starting to see what happens when you go all in to build a super team with iffy injury history and are left for scraps to fill out the rest of your roster. The Suns are 3-7 over their last 10, and their only wins over that span were the pre-Ja Morant Grizzlies, the Warriors, and the Wizards. They're just 7-8 at home and are 5-9 against teams .500 or better, and this is WITH getting an MVP esq season from Kevin Durant. He's been incredible and yet, the Suns aren't even in the Play In right now.
Then you have the Mavs who are also sort of sneaky underachieving. They also have an injury problem with Kyrie being out, but that's a team that is only 6-10 vs teams .500 or better as well. Sure Luka's numbers have been insane, but the team's success certainly hasn't been. Outside of the Kings, the Mavs own the lowest point differential of any top 6 seed in the West. They're giving up 117.9 points a night, which is only outdone by the Jazz and Spurs. That stinks!
So on the surface, I could understand the concern that a dogshit defense is going on the road into a building where KD and Devin Booker always have the potential to explode offensively. For a while there, the Suns dominated this matchup, winning 9 straight in the regular season heading into last year. The issue of course is nobody really cares about that when there was the whole Game 7 thing in the 2022 playoffs. Ever since that moment, there's been beef.
I just don't know how anyone could feel confident in either of these teams right now. The Suns look like shit, and these are the Mavs wins since Nov 10th: NO, WSH, LAL, HOU, UTA, POR, MEM, LAL, POR, SA
Does that make you feel great? Cool, you're beating terrible teams. I'd say the bigger issue is the awful defense combined with once again needing Luka to do everything just to have a puncher's chance. The Grant deal looks brutal, Kyrie is out, there's still not consistent enough shooting around Luka, it's more of the same issues we often see with the Mavs.
The hope is that the bad blood between these two sides makes for an entertaining game, because there's a strong chance the actual basketball might look gross outside of the 3 star players.
And there you have it. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and spends the time with those you love, and then once you're sick of those people just throw on some baskeball and enjoy. It should be another great day of hoops, because remember at the end of the day Adam Silver can always make the call to ensure all these games are close.