NEW YORK (AP) — The Oklahoma City Thunder, fresh off their NBA championship, won’t be missing out on the Christmas Day spotlight this season. Last year, the team was left off the league’s Dec. 25 schedule, a decision that stung players and coaches alike. This time, MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will lead the Thunder at home against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs in one of five games scheduled for the NBA’s annual holiday quintupleheader. BetMGM Sportsbook lists the Thunder as 9.5-point favorites.
The other matchups include Cleveland at New York (Knicks favored by 2.5 points), Houston at LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers (-1.5), top draft pick Cooper Flagg and the Dallas Mavericks visiting Golden State (-4.5), and Minnesota at defending Western Conference champions Denver (-4.5).
Some NBA Cup games will be revealed Wednesday, while the full season schedule — 80 of the 82 games for each team — will be released Thursday. The final two games will be determined in December, based on NBA Cup results.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault, who last year acknowledged the team’s desire to play on Christmas, now sees that wish fulfilled. Winning the championship certainly helped, as the reigning champions are typically featured in the next season’s holiday lineup. Notably missing from this year’s slate are the Eastern Conference champion Indiana Pacers, who lost Tyrese Haliburton for the season due to an Achilles injury and saw Myles Turner depart for Milwaukee in free agency.
The Knicks will extend their league record with their 58th Christmas game, a tradition dating back to the NBA’s first Christmas contest in 1947 at Madison Square Garden. Absent from the holiday games this year are Boston, Philadelphia, and Phoenix — replaced by Cleveland (the East’s No. 1 seed), Houston (which acquired Kevin Durant from the Suns), and the Thunder.
For Cleveland and Oklahoma City, it’s their first Christmas appearance since 2018. The Rockets last played on Christmas in 2019. If James suits up, it will mark his 20th Christmas Day appearance, a milestone only 12 NBA franchises have reached in total. Texas will also see a holiday sweep, with all three of its NBA teams playing on Christmas for the first time.
Opening Night
NBC’s return to NBA coverage begins Oct. 21, when the Thunder will receive their championship rings before hosting Durant and the Rockets as 6.5-point favorites. The second game of the NBC doubleheader features Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler, and Golden State facing James, Luka Doncic, and the Lakers (-3.5). Those will be the only two games on opening night.
MLK Day
On Jan. 19, NBC and Peacock will present four games for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The slate starts with Milwaukee at Atlanta on Peacock at 1 p.m. Eastern, followed by Oklahoma City at Cleveland (2:30 p.m.), Dallas at New York (5 p.m.), and Boston at Detroit (8 p.m.) on NBC. Memphis, a regular MLK Day participant, will skip the holiday this season as they return from European games in Berlin (Jan. 15) and London (Jan. 18) against Orlando.
