On Christmas Day, many NBA stars will gather as ten of the league’s top teams take to the court for another series of action-packed games.
The year 2024 will mark the 77th Christmas Day Games; the first games took place in 1947.
Headlining the league’s biggest names, 2024 will feature five nationally televised games for the holidays, with LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Luka Doncic and Victor Wembanyama set to take the court.
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Who will play on Christmas Day 2024?
There has been no official announcement from the NBA, but Shams Charania of The Athletic reports that the following teams will be on the court on Christmas Day.
- Spurs at the Knicks
- Timberwolves at Mavericks
- 76ers at Celtics
- Lakers at Warriors
- Nuggets at Suns
The five-game schedule reportedly includes eight of the 10 teams that played on Christmas Day 2023, with the Milwaukee Bucks and Miami Heat making way for the San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks.
The Christmas festivities are set to begin with the arrival of the two new teams: Jalen Brunson and the newly formed Knicks host Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs in the Frenchman’s first appearance on Christmas Day.
The Knicks haven’t played on Christmas since 2021, but still have the most appearances of any franchise with 54.
Next comes a rematch of last year’s Western Conference finals, with Luka Doncic and the Mavericks hosting Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves, followed by an Eastern Conference blockbuster, with the 76ers traveling to Boston to face the Celtics.
LeBron James and Stephen Curry may currently be teammates on Team USA, but they will face off under the bright lights of Chase Center when the Warriors host the Lakers. This year’s edition will push LeBron’s record Christmas appearances to 19.
Christmas Day will then likely end with Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and the Nuggets playing against Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and the Suns in Phoenix.
NBA games on Christmas Day of the 2024–25 season according to sources:
🎄Spurs at Knicks
🎄Timberwolves at Mavericks
🎄76ers at Celtics
🎄Lakers at Warriors
🎄Nuggets at Suns— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) 9 August 2024
What channel will broadcast the NBA games on Christmas Day?
This season’s Christmas Day games will be split between ESPN and ABC as usual.
It is not yet known which teams will occupy which time slots, here are the traditional playing times.
Time (ET) | Comparison | channel |
Midday | To be announced | ESPN |
2:30 p.m. | To be announced | ABC |
5pm | To be announced | ABC |
8pm | To be announced | ESPN |
10:30 p.m. | To be announced | ESPN |