NBA Christmas games, ranked by watchability

Christmas day isn’t just for spending time with family, sharing gifts with loved ones, and eating way too many treats: it’s also a day to watch high-level basketball from the afternoon until the moment you finally fall asleep. The NBA is back with another loaded Christmas slate, featuring five games that will span more than 12 hours of the day. The league’s biggest stars are on full display.

This year’s Christmas day schedule will feature some living legends with LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant each taking the floor. It will also feature arguably the three leading candidates for MVP with Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Joel Embiid leading their teams into action. It features the last four NBA champions in the Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, Milwaukee Bucks, and Los Angeles Lakers. That’s just a brief overview of what should be an amazing slate of games.

Let’s say you don’t have all day to watch basketball on Christmas — we’re here to help you decide on which games to really sit down and watch. Here’s how we’d rank the NBA games on Christmas by watchability. All times are Eastern.

5. Dallas Mavericks at Phoenix Suns, 10:30 p.m., ESPN

What’s not to love about Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving (if he plays) vs. Kevin Durant and Devin Booker? This is a tremendous matchup on paper, but we’re ranking it last for a few reasons. The first is the start time: if you’re on the East coast, this game isn’t starting until just minutes before Dec. 26. The Suns just aren’t worth losing sleep over this season: with Bradley Beal injured for almost the entire year (he’s played only six games), Phoenix is currently just fighting to stay within play-in range with the No. 10 seed. With both teams owning below-average defenses, both Doncic and Durant should be able to go off for big scoring nights. I’m gonna watch this one, but only because I’m a sicko who loves staying up late to watch hoops.

Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images

4. Philadelphia 76ers at Miami Heat, 8 p.m., ESPN

Joel Embiid is somehow having an even better season than he did last year when he won MVP. The Sixers are rolling even after trading James Harden just after the start of the season, and they can mostly thank a star leap from Tyrese Maxey for that. The Heat, meanwhile, just keep rolling as a really good team: Miami lost some key rotation pieces coming off last year’s shocking run to the NBA Finals as a No. 8 seed, but Erik Spoelstra again has his group playing good basketball and looking like a sleeping giant in the conference. Philadelphia’s offense is historically efficient right now, so it will be fun to see what Coach Spo has up his sleeve to stop them. The only reason this is No. 4 is because you just know there will be able 15 Embiid trips to the free throw line, and we’d prefer to watch the game in flow.

Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

3. Milwaukee Bucks at New York Knicks, 12 p.m., ESPN

The Bucks have looked a bit disjointed after making two massive changes to their core over the offseason, but Milwaukee was still the second team to reach 20 wins in the East to start this year. Damian Lillard is starting to find comfort in his new pairing with Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the two-man game between the two seems unstoppable when Milwaukee actually runs it. New head coach Adrian Griffin has come under fire a bit as the defense has started to slip with Lillard ingrained in the lineup, but the Bucks have found a way to win ugly. Winning ugly might as well be the Knicks’ M.O. under Tom Thibodeau: New York pounds the offensive glass, bullies its way to the free throw line, and plays a methodical, ball control version of offense. It will be so fun to see Jalen Brunson try to keep up in the scoring battle with Lillard. This could be a possible second round playoff preview.

Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

2. Golden State Warriors at Denver Nuggets, 2:30 p.m., ABC/ESPN

Nikola Jokic and Steph Curry are the two most thrilling NBA players to watch, and arguably the two best. Jokic stamped himself as the top player in the league by carrying the Nuggets to their first championship in franchise history last season, and he’s again putting up MVP numbers with a dominant combination of inside-out scoring and mesmerizing passing. Curry remains as great as ever even on the brink of his 36th birthday: he’s hitting rainbow daggers and keeping the Warriors afloat despite Draymond Green’s suspensions and Klay Thompson’s diminished play. This matchup really gets good when Curry attacks Jokic in the high pick-and-roll or off a dribble handoff. Just know there will be at least one Curry shot and Jokic pass that is truly unbelievable in this game.

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1. Boston Celtics at Los Angeles Lakers, 5 p.m., ABC/ESPN

The NBA’s premier East/West rivalry renews on Christmas day with a showdown of the Boston Celtics vs. the Los Angeles Lakers. Boston looks like the most complete team in the East to this point, with a ferocious top-six in the rotation that has been running teams off the floor most of the year. The Lakers have been a bit up-and-down, but showed how high their ceiling can go by winning the NBA’s inaugural in-season tournament. LeBron James turns 39 years old just before Christmas, but remains one of the game’s best players. Anthony Davis is a defensive wrecking ball who can carry an offense on the right night, and Austin Reaves is a key third scorer who can initiate the offense. Lakers vs. Celtics is always must-see TV, and this year is no exception.

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