It’s the most wonderful slaaaaaate of the yeeeeeaaaarrrr! Can you feel it! Can you feel the holidays! Can you feel the Christmas Day NBA all-day basketball extravaganza! I can feel it deep in my plums. So we’ve got a pretty loaded schedule for X-Mas in the NBA for 2020-21 and this marks the third slate of games in the regular season. Things got going on Tuesday and four teams featured on X-Mas were also the featured teams to open the season.
There are five games on tap for Christmas Day — as is tradition. A few of them might not give us the true gift of basketball. Though a few might end up surprising us. Looking at the slate from here, we have to point out one major injury that may impact things early. Jimmy Butler is questionable for the Miami Heat. His absence would make the Pelicans a potential favorite. New Orleans may be the way to go anyway.
Aside from the starter, my favorite game for X-Mas is the Nets vs. the Celtics at TD Garden. It gives us a nice pre-dinner dessert and could end up being the most competitive of the five games. Plus, we get the Kyrie Irving revenge narrative that sort of lacked its luster last season. It sure as hell should be a lot better than what we can only assume will be a blowout in the mid-afternoon game between the Dubs and Bucks.
Later on we get some West Coast action with Mavs-Lakers and Clips-Nuggets. One is a matchup of LeBron James and MVP favorite Luka Doncic. The other, a rematch of the second round of the 2020 NBA Playoffs, in which the Clippers blew a 3-1 lead to the Nuggets. Here’s the complete schedule, plus betting lines, for the X-Mas Day slate.
NBA Christmas Day schedule, national broadcasts
New Orleans Pelicans vs. Miami Heat, 12:00 p.m. ET on ESPN
Spread: MIA -4
Over/Under: 224.5
Moneyline: MIA (-175), NOP (+143)
Golden State Warriors vs. Milwaukee Bucks, 2:30 p.m. ET on ABC
Spread: MIL -10.5
Over/Under: 232
Moneyline: MIL (-560), GSW (+410)
Brooklyn Nets vs. Boston Celtics, 5:00 p.m. ET on ABC
Spread: BOS +3.5
Over/Under: 227
Moneyline: BOS (+125), BKN (-150)
Dallas Mavericks vs. Los Angeles Lakers, 8:00 p.m. ET on ABC and ESPN
Spread: LAL -6.5
Over/Under: 227.5
Moneyline: LAL (-245), DAL (+200)
Los Angeles Clippers vs. Denver Nuggets, 10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN
Spread: DEN +2.5
Over/Under: 224
Moneyline: DEN (+114), LAC (-136)
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