NBA Christmas Day schedule – when and where to watch all five games

The Thunder are an NBA-best 26-4 this season — 26-2 against every team but the Spurs, 0-2 against the Spurs

The festive season brings with it one of the NBA’s most anticipated annual traditions: the Christmas Day showcase games. For Jalen Williams of the Oklahoma City Thunder, the plan is simple yet exhilarating: presents in the morning, followed by a high-stakes game in the afternoon. To him, this perfectly encapsulates an exceptional Christmas.

The reigning NBA champions, who reportedly felt overlooked by last year’s Christmas schedule, are now firmly on the league’s premier slate. They are set to face the San Antonio Spurs as part of the annual five-game holiday extravaganza. The full schedule, all times Eastern, begins at noon with Cleveland at New York, followed by the Spurs at the Thunder at 2::green-background[30] p.m., Dallas at Golden State at 5 p.m., Houston at the Los Angeles Lakers at 8 p.m., and Minnesota at Denver at 10::green-background[30] p.m.

Williams expressed his excitement, stating: "As a basketball player, I feel like you grow up — actually, if you’re a sports fan, you grow up watching sports on Christmas. To be able to be a part of it is really cool. What time do we play, 1::green-background[30] (Central)? Yeah, we’re like the cool game. Like, 1::green-background[30], presents have already been opened and everybody’s kind of watching the games. I’m really looking forward to that."

For most of the Thunder squad, this will mark a Christmas Day debut; only Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso have previously scored in a holiday fixture. In contrast, San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama will be making his second Christmas appearance, following an impressive 42-point, 18-rebound performance against New York last year. Thunder coach Mark Daigneault acknowledged the occasion: "It’s a big day for the NBA and the guys are excited to play on that slate of games. It’s one of 82 at the end of the day, but it is an elevated circumstance because of the attention on the game and the noise around it. Those are good experiences for any team and certainly for us."

Ben Simmons playing for the Los Angeles Clippers against the Oklahoma City Thunder in March earlier this year (Getty Images)

The Thunder boast an NBA-best 26-4 record this season, though notably, they are 0-2 against the Spurs, who defeated them 130-110 recently and ousted them in the NBA Cup semifinals earlier this month. Wembanyama anticipates a fierce rematch, remarking that the Thunder are "going to be locked in, like, more than any time before, probably."

Meanwhile, LeBron James, a figure synonymous with the league’s biggest stages, is poised for his 20th Christmas Day game with the Lakers, if he plays. This remarkable feat surpasses the total Christmas appearances of 17 current NBA franchises. Despite the honour, James admitted: "I’d much rather be at home with my family. But it’s a game, it’s the game I love, it’s a game I watched when I was a kid on Christmas Day, watching a lot of the greatest play the game on Christmas. It’s always been an honour to play it. I’m going to be completely honest: I would like to be home on the couch with my family all throughout the day, but my number is called, our number is called, so we have to go out and perform."

James’s extensive Christmas Day career means the record books will require further updates. He already holds the all-time Christmas records for games played, points (507), wins (11), field goals (180), and is tied with James Harden for 3-pointers made (31). He is also close to breaking records for assists (second with 137, eight behind Oscar Robertson), steals (second with 28, two behind Russell Westbrook), and free throws made (second with 116, nine behind Robertson). In rebounds, James ranks sixth with 143, trailing Dolph Schayes, Wilt Chamberlain, Shaquille O’Neal, Wes Unseld, and Bill Russell.

Beyond James, other sharpshooters could climb the 3-point leader board. Dallas’ Klay Thompson enters the day third with 27 Christmas 3-pointers, just ahead of Golden State’s Stephen Curry and Houston’s Kevin Durant.

While some teams are perennial fixtures, others continue their long wait for a Christmas Day slot. Sacramento hasn’t played since 2003, Indiana since 2004 (a nod they might have received this year had Tyrese Haliburton not been injured in Game 7 of the NBA Finals), and Detroit since 2005. To put this in perspective, Seattle, which hasn’t had a team for nearly two decades, last played on Christmas in 2007, more recently than the Kings, Pacers, and Pistons. Orlando’s last appearance was in 2011, and Chicago’s in 2016. Conversely, Boston’s nine-year streak of Christmas appearances concludes this year.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Lakers are celebrating their 27th consecutive Christmas Day game, while Golden State marks its 13th consecutive season. Stephen Curry, whose Warriors recently secured their second straight win to reach 15-15, remarked: "Just excited for another big game on Christmas Day. The vibes are good right now."

This year also sees the Christmas debut of Dallas’ Cooper Flagg, who turned 19 this week. Should he play, Flagg would become the fourth-youngest player to appear in a Christmas game, following Kobe Bryant, Bill Willoughby, and James, who were all 18 during their first holiday contests.

Kevin Durant’s holiday journey is particularly notable; he is set to play on Christmas for a fifth different team (and a sixth different jersey). Having previously played for Seattle, Oklahoma City, Golden State, and Brooklyn, he now adds the Rockets, his team since this past summer, to the list. Only Shaquille O’Neal (Orlando, Lakers, Miami, Phoenix, Cleveland, Boston) has played for more teams on Christmas, with Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony also having played for five franchises.

A striking feature of this year’s schedule is the Western Conference’s dominance, with eight of the ten participating teams hailing from the West. This marks the highest representation from one conference on Christmas since 1978, when eight of the then-11 Eastern Conference teams were selected. The last time the East had more teams playing on Christmas than the West was in 2004. Since then, including this year, the holiday schedule has seen an even East-West split ten times, with the West having more teams selected on eleven occasions.