The New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers will face off in the NBA’s highly anticipated Christmas Day slate.
The entire Christmas Day slate has officially been released. And the Christmas Day NBA festivities will all begin with a clash between two Eastern Conference contenders. It’s a matchup between the Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks.
Over recent history, the Knicks have become somewhat of a regular when it comes to playing on Christmas Day, and they’re usually the matchup that opens up the festivities. Christmas in New York just feels right. Even though you can make the argument for other teams, it’s not exactly surprising that the Knicks got the nod.
And the Sixers make sense too. They may be coming off a disappointing end to their season last year, but the expectations will be high for them heading into this season. James Harden is healthy again and has been putting in the work all offseason. Joel Embiid is expected to be back to full health as well and is coming off one of the best seasons of his career.
Even if the Sixers don’t make another move, Philly should factor into the hierarchy of the Eastern Conference.
You may not be able to say that about the Knicks, but there will be a new sense of hype around them too. Even just off the fact that they added Jalen Brunson during the offseason. If this team adds a Donovan Mitchell, which is still a possibility, the hype around the Knicks will only grow.
It’s an interesting decision for the NBA to give the Sixers the nod over the Miami Heat in this spot, but it’s clear that they ultimately went with the star power of Embiid and Harden over Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo.
It’s fair and understandable.
Nevertheless, a matchup between the Sixers and Knicks to tip off the NBA Christmas festivities should be intriguing.