NBA: Ranking all 5 Christmas Day showdowns, headlined by Bucks-Celtics

Christmas Day in the NBA is an honor and tradition. This year another 10 teams have the privilege of playing on the league’s most marquee day. We rank all five games 

Each summer the NBA schedule drops and one day fans are quick to survey is Christmas Day. The date is typically reserved for the best of the best teams. However, there are some mainstays who somehow nearly always make it on the schedule. Yes, everyone is eyeing the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks, but more on the Knickerbockers later on.

This year, the NBA Christmas Day slate is a little underwhelming due to some teams being not as good as their preseason projections and various injuries. Kicking things off at noon EST, Joel Embiid and the Sixers will visit the New York Knicks at MSG.

Next up for the mid-day matinee, the Los Angeles Lakers head to Texas to battle the Dallas Mavericks. The third game of the day will feature the two best teams in the league; the Milwaukee Bucks vs. the Boston Celtics inside TD Garden. Followed by the Memphis Grizzlies visiting the shorthanded Golden State Warriors. Finally, the nightcap closing out the holiday is the Phoenix Suns vs. the Denver Nuggets.

Give a little more respect to the East

Since the NBA strictly imposed a five-game schedule for Christmas Day the East has never had more than five teams play on a single Christmas. Whereas, the West has had at least six teams in action on seven different occasions and seven once during the 2015-16 season.

At this point, it appears the East is the better conference and it’s time for them to receive the same level of respect the West garnered over the past decade.

Too much MSG

Over the course of the last 14 years, the Knicks have played 10 games on Christmas, despite the fact that they have the league’s fourth-worst record (473-664 as of December 21, 2022) during the time span. Only the Pistons, Timberwolves, and Kings have a worse record this trio has played a combined two games on Christmas, both belonging to the Wolves.

The Knickerbockers play on Christmas because of their name and nothing more. There is too much talent in today’s NBA for the Knicks to be a near-lock each year. The day should be for the best of the best, not based on what has happened in the past. The Pelicans, Nets, or Cavaliers were more deserving of the X-Mas day nod.

Nevertheless, let’s rank each of the five games that are on this year’s schedule.