While the NFL has entered the arena, Christmas Day remains one of the biggest days on the NBA calendar โ the biggest stars in some of the best matchups. It is a showcase day for the league.
That showcase happens across a slate of five games โ Cavaliers at Knicks, Spurs at Thunder, Mavericks at Warriors, Rockets at Lakers, Timberwolves at Nuggets โ and here is what to look for in each of those contests.
Advertisement
Can Cavaliers slow Brunson, Knicks offense?
Christmas Day in New York City is one of the NBA’s great traditions, and this year Spike Lee and the Knicks faithful are going to get the present of offensive fireworks.
In the last four games Jalen Brunson has played, the New York Knicks have a 121.6 offensive rating, third best in the NBA for that stretchโ and that doesn’t even count their NBA Cup championship game. Brunson has been the spark in those contests, scoring 40, 25, 22 and 47. Ignore Miike Brown’s way-too-early argument that Brunson should be the MVP, but know that he’s not wrong in making the case for the Knicks’ guard has to be considered one of the best offensive players in the game.
Meanwhile, without Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley for the last five games (and he will be out on Christmas, too, due to a calf strain), the Cavaliers have had a bottom-five defense in the league. While Cleveland won its last two games, it was because the Cavs’ offense exploded for 139 and 141 points.
Advertisement
All of which sets up a high-scoring, entertaining first game of the Christmas Day showdown (of what we thought would be the two best teams in the East, but Cleveland has not lived up to the hype). The challenge for Cleveland is whether it can get enough stops to stay close.
One other thing to watch: Brown has the Knicks playing faster, and with that, both teams want to run, while neither is particularly good at stopping opponents in transition. The team that gets the most easy buckets by winning the transition battle may take the game.
Can the Spurs upset the Thunder for a third time?
Welcome to the best game of the day โ and the NBA’s best budding rivalry.
Advertisement
Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs have made the Thunder look human, beating them twice in the last week. Do that a third time and we’re going to have some serious questions. For both teams.
Not many teams have the perimeter athleticism to match up with Oklahoma City, but San Antonio does, with De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper and Devin Vassell. The Spurs look like a legitimate top-four team in the West that can host a playoff round, which is way ahead of schedule for this young roster.
One big X-factor in this game: Luke Kornet. Signed last summer as Wembanyama’s backup, he remains the starter even with Wemby back (Wembanyama is coming off the bench as the Spurs try to limit his minutes). Kornet has thrived and proven to be a problem for the Thunder this season.
Oklahoma City doesn’t need to make a statement in this game โ they remain the clear team to beat in the NBA and even with the losses are on a 71-win pace โ but on their home court after a couple of losses don’t be surprised if they come out looking to remind everyone why this team started 24-1, and just how suffocatingly dominant their defense can be.
Advertisement
OKC is led by reigning MVP (and current frontrunner to repeat) Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, with Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams taking turns on any given night to see who is the second-best player on the team. They bring lockdown defenders like Alex Caruso and Cason Wallace off the bench.
Don’t be surprised if the Thunder looks every bit that dominant team on Christmasโฆ but underestimate these Spurs at your own peril. The Thunder won’t.
Curry who? Come to watch the future: Cooper Flagg
If there has been a theme in the NBA in 2025, it’s been the changing of the guard. While Stephen Curry, LeBron James, and Kevin Durant are still high-level players and big draws (especially for casual fans), the league itself has started to move on.
Advertisement
Enter Cooper Flagg.
The No. 1 pick out of Duke has found an offensive comfort level and is thriving this season in Dallas. He looks like a future top-five player in the league. Just ask the Nuggets.
One thing to watch in this game is how Flagg handles what will be physical defense from Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green. The Warriors are going to try to knock the rookie off his game. Literally.
The X-factor in this game may be Dallas center Anthony Davis โ if he is dominant in the paint, as he was against Denver Tuesday, he’s going to find room to operate and put up numbers. Maybe Steve Kerr adjusts and puts Green on Davis, but that just provides chances for Flagg to do his thing.
Advertisement
Also, while there will be a lot of chatter around the latest spat between Green and coach Steve Kerr, the Warriors have already moved on โ they have been there, done that with these fights and just look past it. That will not impact them in this game. Flagg is the much bigger problem.
Durant vs. LeBron? Sure. But which team can get stops?
The first thing to watch with this game: Luka Doncic is expected to play after missing the last two Lakers games with a leg contusion. It’s a safe bet he takes the court (and shows off his new signature shoe), but it’s something to at least monitor.
Houston in Los Angeles got the prime time slot on Christmas Day because it’s Kevin Durant vs. LeBron James. It’s the first time these two future Hall of Famers have faced off on Christmas Day since 2018, and it’s always a show when they do.
Advertisement
The KD/LeBron matchup also might be the fourth-most interesting thing about this game.
At the top of the list of things to watch is a question about the defenses โ both teams are struggling on that end to get stops of late.
“The theme with our team, these young teams that move, we just can’t move. It’s like we’re stuck in mud,” Lakers coach J.J. Redick said Tuesday, calling out his team’s defense in a blowout loss to the Suns. The Rockets are a young team that can move.
The Lakers have the 28th-ranked defense in the NBA over the last seven games โ and the Rockets are 27th. Houston is 2-5 in those games because their defense can’t get stops, as evidenced by Kawhi Leonard torching them for 41 points on Tuesday. Whichever team gets stops should take this one.
Advertisement
For fans who just start watching the NBA at Christmas, there’s going to be a lot of, “Who is this Sengun guy?” Kevin Durant might have asked that when he got to Houston, but not anymore โ Durant and Sengun, both locks to be All-Stars, have developed real chemistry. Sengun is averaging 23 points, 9.3 rebounds and 6.9 assists a night as the hub of the Houston offense.
“The way Kevin plays, he’s a good fit with anybody,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said of Durant. “With his hands on the basketball, whether it’s catch-and- shoot, whether it’s pick-and-roll with him and Sengun, whatever it may be, when you have a great talent like that, he can fit around anyone.”
One Xs and Os thing to monitor: The Lakers switch more on defense than any team in the league, and surprisingly, the Rockets have struggled against teams that switch a lot.
Can Anthony Edwards grab the spotlight?
The best player walking the face of the earth is in this nightcap game. Nikola Jokic is again averaging a triple-double โ 28.9 points, 12 rebounds and 10.9 assists a game โ and playing like an MVP.
Advertisement
However, the story to watch is the guy in the other uniform: Anthony Edwards.
Denver has beaten Minnesota twice this season already, and in the one game Edwards played he put up 26 points, but on 8-of-23 shooting. The Nuggets’ defense, with Aaron Gordon, can make Edwards work for his points.
Except Gordon is out with a hamstring injury. The Edwards assignment may have fallen to Cameron Johnson, but he suffered a knee bruise on Tuesday night that will keep him out for a while (though it looked like it might have been worse; the Nuggets will take the bruise). A third starter, Christian Braun, is also out.
All of this leaves this season’s Nuggets looking too much like last season’s Nuggets โ Jokic is brilliant, but there isn’t enough around him.
Advertisement
Which gives Edwards a chance to be the superstar in this game.
“I don’t think it’s no pressure. I don’t think I’m under a spotlight. I don’t really think I’m a superstar,” Edwards said recently. “I think to some people I may be. But to myself, I’m really not. So I don’t really put no pressure on myself. They got other guys in the league for that.”
He may not feel the pressure, but he is that guy.
