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A preview of the Christmas Day games
Tuesday night’s doubleheader was a great way to wake up your palate for a new NBA season. And Wednesday’s 13-game sample fountain was the ideal follow-up, a chance to get a taste of a bit of everything the 2020-21 season has to offer.
But nothing satisfies hunger like Friday’s Christmas Day showcase, a rice meal filled with the best teams in the league, a who’s who of the best duos and players highlighting the matchups that provide the framework for the course of the season in the coming weeks and months. .
You could put together a first and second All-NBA team with star power that will be in uniform across the country, including Kia MVP past, present and future, as well as champions and Finals MVPs of the same kind.
Nine players who won all NBA honors last season are slated to hit the court and that doesn’t include two-time Brooklyn Finals MVP Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving or New Orleans Pelicans sensation Zion Williamson, three of the biggest and most recognized stars. in the global universe of the NBA.
NBA programming, Santa, has delivered things as usual; Not even a global pandemic could disrupt this Christmas tradition, which starts early in the day and will keep you locked up for up to hours.
A quick look at the menu:
Zion Williamson, who will make his debut on Christmas Day, will have a lot of help from Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball.
New Orleans Pelicans vs. Miami Heat, Noon ET (ESPN)
Zion Williamson gets the biggest headlines, and with good reason. Your Christmas debut is a great way to start. But Stan Van Gundy is bringing a deep team from the Pelicans back to their old grounds to challenge the reigning Eastern Conference champions. Brandon Ingram led the way (24 points, 11 assists and 9 rebounds) in the Pelicans’ impressive season-opener win over Toronto. And it’s Ingram who will continue to serve as the Pelicans’ top scorer until Zion polishes his skills and becomes a more versatile threat. The Heat will fight back with a burgeoning Big 3 from Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic (20 points and 7 assists off the bench in Wednesday’s season opener loss to Orlando). The Heat need to clean up the turnovers (22 total and 13 combined by Adebayo and Butler) that led to 24 points from the Magic. Turnovers and the absence of the usual hustle and bustle of the Heat are problems that Heat coach Erik Spoelstra will not allow to continue.
Keep an eye on: The point guard showdown between Lonzo Ball and Tyler Herro. Ball failed to secure a contract extension, making it a show and a test year for the former No. 2 overall pick. Herro showed how much he enjoys the big stage as a rookie in the Orlando bubble.
Kia MVPs Giannis Antetokounmpo and Stephen Curry will face off.
Golden State Warriors vs. Milwaukee Bucks, 2:30 ET (ABC)
As long as you can get the last two players to win consecutive Kia MVPs on the same court, it’s something you can’t miss. Steph Curry and his Warriors as well as Giannis Antetokounmpo and his Bucks have been humiliated in the last two seasons, injuries and a playoff absence for the first and consecutive blackouts in the playoffs for the second. The Warriors were defeated in their first game of the season against Brooklyn and despite their usual wicked overall performance, The Greek Freak fell short in a loss to Boston on Wednesday night. Someone has a chance to get away with a win. While the Bucks remain among the best teams in the league, the Warriors will have to scratch and claw their way back into the playoff mix without Klay Thompson available this season and so many youngsters on the roster.
Keep an eye on: The baptism of Warriors rookie James Wiseman continues. He cleared very well against Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets on opening night. Now you’ll get a relentless dose of Antetokounmpo’s furious style. Welcome to the NBA tower!
After a preseason tune-up, Jayson Tatum and Kevin Durant meet on Christmas Day.
Brooklyn Nets vs. Boston Celtics, 5 ET (ABC)
They fought in the preseason. But now these two contenders and rivals can get down to the serious business of who owns the Atlantic Division, and perhaps the Eastern Conference this season. Jayson Tatum had no trouble facing current Kia MVP and Defensive Player of the Year Giannis Antetokounmpo to secure the first win of the season. So you know he won’t shy away from a showdown with Kevin Durant, who appears to be back in his elite space after an 18-month absence after Achilles’ injury. Durant’s entire season will be a refresher course for anyone with selective amnesia when it comes to the most successful scorer of his generation (sorry James Harden). And he may not even lead the Nets in scoring this season, with Kyrie Irving burning the nets (and sage) on his official return to Boston, and wherever he goes.
Keep an eye on: Jaylen Brown, the “other” star of the Celtics, continues to go unnoticed far too often. He put together an All-Star caliber campaign last season, as one of the league’s best two-way talents, but he might have to wait until this season to be rewarded.
Two of the league’s biggest names, Luka Doncic and LeBron James, take center stage in primetime.
Dallas Mavericks vs. Los Angeles Lakers, 8 ET (ABC / ESPN)
There’s a reason this game won prime time. Like groggy kids opening presents in the morning, LeBron James has become a Christmas day staple for the past 17 seasons. He has done it at every stop, from Cleveland to Miami, back to Cleveland and now to Los Angeles, where he and Anthony Davis restored order after just one season together. Luka Doncic might want to take notes on how to do it on vacation, because this is one of the many elements he could inherit from the league’s current global face. Nobody cares that both the Lakers and Mavericks are coming off losses in their respective season starts. The last time we saw Luka face off against two of LA’s best under the lights, he was heralding the demise of the LA Clippers in the postseason in the Orlando bubble. The place changes, but not the pull of the future (Luka is only 21 years old) in the suffocating control of the past and the present (LeBron is only a few days away from his 36th birthday).
Keep an eye on: New Lakers point guard Dennis Schroder is still in the early stages of figuring out how to play alongside LeBron, an experience that has worked extremely well for many others in the past. He’s the type of competitor who will be itching to steal the show with a performance of his own.
The Clippers will seek revenge against the Nuggets in the final on Christmas Day.
Los Angeles Clippers vs. Denver Nuggets, 10:30 ET (ESPN)
The first step of the Clippers’ revenge / redemption tour went to plan, as they ruined ring night at Staples Center for the Lakers in Tuesday’s season opener. The chance to get a piece of the team that humiliated them by rebounding from a 3-1 deficit in the Western Conference semifinals, Orlando’s bubble has to be just as attractive. It’s not that the Clippers can erase the pain that the Lakers won the championship they thought was theirs, or that the Nuggets are coming together to bring them down before they have a chance to compete for it. Every goal nailed in this new quest for Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and these reconstituted Clippers is what matters. The Nuggets, of course, are still furious that their rally of all ages is still being categorized as a “collapse” rather than their triumph. Jamal Murray had a difficult night (1 of 9 shooting, 9 points) in the Nuggets’ overtime loss to Buddy Hield’s touch on the bell. So you know you’ll be ready for a recovery effort with the whole world watching.
Keep an eye on: Nuggets All-NBA center Nikola Jokic looked as usual in Game 1. So did the other player the Nuggets hope to take the next step with this season. Michael Porter Jr.’s escape into the Orlando bubble is the launching pad that led to his 24-point, 5-rebound, 3-block effort against the Kings. We need to see more and more of Porter in the brightest lights.
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Sekou Smith is a veteran NBA reporter and NBA television analyst. You can email him here, find his file here and follow him on twitter.
Views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs, or Turner Broadcasting.
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