NBA Christmas games announced for 2024-25 season

The NBA's Christmas Day schedule features the league's most important matchups between stars and rivals, and this year there are several interesting storylines. Since the second season in 1947, the league has hosted games featuring the best teams and players on Christmas Day. The reigning NBA champion has participated in the event every year since 1995 (with the exception of the 1998 lockout, when no games were played on Christmas Day).

NBA Christmas games announced for 2024-25 season

The NBA Christmas Day games scheduled for December 25, 2024 were announced by league insider Shams Charania. The athlete And stadium and are as follows:

• San Antonio Spurs vs New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden

• Minnesota Timberwolves at Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center

• Philadelphia 76ers vs Boston Celtics at TD Garden

• Los Angeles Lakers at the Golden State Warriors in the Chase Center

• Denver Nuggets at Phoenix Suns at Footprint Center

Of the last five NBA champions, only the 2021 champion, the Milwaukee Bucks, did not receive a game on Christmas Day this year, despite having stars like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard in the game.

Storylines for NBA games on Christmas Day 2024

The first game of the day is Spurs star Victor Wembanyama's first NBA game on Christmas Day under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden. The 20-year-old has had a successful and highly regarded rookie season. He was unanimously named Rookie of the Year. The Knicks have since developed into one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference thanks to Jalen Brunson's rise to All-Star status. They have also added another former Villanova Wildcat to their lineup, Mikal Bridges.

The second game is a rematch of the 2024 Western Conference finals. Dallas beat Minnesota in five games in last season's playoffs, winning three of those games by five points or less. Mavericks guard Luka Dončić and Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards are among the best players in the league. The Wolves also feature reigning Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert.

Former NBA champions face off on Christmas Day

In the third game of this year's holiday season, the Boston Celtics, the reigning NBA champions, will face the newly formed Philadelphia 76ers. The Sixers have revamped their roster and signed seven players in free agency, including nine-time NBA All-Star forward Paul George. 2022-23 NBA MVP Joel Embiid will also look to make an impression against the Celtics' strong lineup of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday.

The penultimate game of the holiday will feature a star-studded clash between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors previously hosted the Lakers on Christmas Day 2018 when they were still playing in Oakland at Oracle Arena. This time, the game will be played at the state-of-the-art Chase Center, where two of the greatest players of this generation, LeBron James and Stephen Curry, will face off again. This will be the fifth meeting between the two on Christmas Day and dates back to the infamous rivalry between the Warriors and the Cavaliers in the mid-2010s. It follows their meeting with Team USA at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, where they showed tremendous camaraderie.

The final game of the night pits reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokić and the Denver Nuggets against the top-heavy Phoenix Suns, which include Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal. The two teams faced off in the second round of the playoffs during the Nuggets' 2023 title race. Denver won the series in six games. Phoenix was the team that gave them the most trouble after Denver's previous first-round meeting with Minnesota ended in five games. The Nuggets swept the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals and then won the NBA Finals against the Heat in five games.