One of the best days in the NBA is Christmas Day. There is no better gift to NBA fans than a full day of tantalizing basketball. Last year’s slate of games mirrored the exact matchups in that season’s playoffs.
Ahead of the league’s release of the 2026-27 schedule, here are the top five clashes that should headline Christmas Day:
Celtics-76ers
Despite being conference rivals, the Sixers and Celtics have squared off just twice in the last ten Christmases. With Jaylen Brown’s shocking trade to Philadelphia, a showdown with his former team would be the thrilling chance for revenge. The game would also pit Brown against the player Boston traded him for – Paul George.
Brown played in Boston for 10 seasons and helped lead the Celtics to a championship. The organization’s decision to deal him to a conference rival stunned him and other folks around the league. Christmas Day is the perfect opportunity to prove the Celtics made the wrong choice on a stage millions will be tuned in to.
Aside from Brown’s history with the Celtics, the impact of LeBron James can’t get overlooked. The future Hall of Famer has played on Christmas a record-breaking 20 times. His alliance with the Sixers rounds out the team as a star-studded force that could come out of the East.
On the Celtics side, Jayson Tatum will finally be healthy after missing the entirety of last season with a torn Achilles.
Spurs-Thunder
Two of the youngest teams in the league also happen to feature two faces of the NBA’s future. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Victor Wembanyama have led their teams to relevancy after years of missing the playoffs and sitting in the lottery.
The Spurs gave the top-seeded Thunder a difficult time last season, as four of OKC’s 18 regular-season losses came to the Spurs. They also battled it out in the last Western Conference Finals, with the Spurs edging out the Thunder in a narrow seven-game series.
Tensions were heightened with players on both sides accusing the other team of dirty play.
The Thunder made several moves over the offseason, including getting rid of key role players: Lu Dort, Aaron Wiggins, and Isaiah Joe. It will be interesting to see how the new-look Thunder fare against a hungry Spurs team.
San Antonio came up just short of a title after losing to the Knicks in the NBA Finals. After having one year of deep playoff experience under their belt, the Spurs will be out for blood this season.
Pacers-Knicks
The Pacers’ roster looks different from when Tyrese Haliburton last played, but any team with the 26-year-old on it has a chance. Like Tatum, Haliburton will be able to start this season healthy and help his team back to title contention.
The last time the world saw Haliburton, he was shocking the NBA with improbable game-winners and comebacks. He infamously hit one game winner/game-tying shot in every series of the 2025 playoffs.
The Pacers are long overdue for their first Christmas Day game in 22 years – regardless of whether they are a small market. Haliburton and his squad have shown that no moment is too big for them. They are more than capable of holding their own under the bright lights.
Their battles with the Knicks in the 2024 and 2025 playoffs were one for the ages. Although the Pacers came out on top in both series, it is the Knicks who have since been named champions.
The Knicks are also no strangers to historic comebacks. Last postseason, they overcame a 29-point halftime deficit in the Finals and a 22-point deficit with 7:48 to go in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Lakers-Mavericks
The Los Angeles Lakers are now Luka Doncic’s team after the departure of LeBron James. Facing his former team as the new leader of the Lakers would be a full-circle moment for a player who thought he would retire a Maverick.
The Mavericks have moved on to No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg as the franchise’s cornerstone. Kyrie Irving is also expected to return after missing the 25-26 season rehabbing his torn ACL.
Irving and Doncic grew their initially rocky on-court chemistry during their time as teammates in Dallas. The two All-Stars became good friends off the court and still remain in touch with each other.
One of the greatest What Ifs is what could have happened if Doncic and Irving stayed together. They already reached the Finals in their first full season together, leaving plenty of questions about how far they could have reached.
Dallas endured a turbulent year and a half after Doncic’s jaw-dropping trade to the Lakers. Nico Harrison, former Mavs general manager, was fired and replaced by former Trail Blazers assistant general manager Mike Schmitz.
From a wider perspective, the Lakers-Mavericks rivalry goes back to the Kobe Bryant-Dirk Nowitzki days.
Warriors-Suns
The Warriors haven’t made significant upgrades to their roster, nor will they enter opening night fully healthy. Still, so long as the greatest shooter on the planet is in the league, he deserves the chance to put on a Christmas show.
The Suns surprised many people after squeaking into the postseason in the aftermath of Kevin Durant’s exit. The contentious rivalry between Golden State and Phoenix’s Dillon Brooks is still very much alive.
While it is unlikely that Jimmy Butler will return from injury by Dec. 25, Brooks added fuel to the fire by picking Butler as the player he would want to box in the ring against.
The Warriors have gotten the best of Dillon Brooks when it mattered most, but the Suns eliminated them in the Play-In last season. Devin Booker torched the Dubs last season, averaging 33.7 points over three games against them.
Booker and Curry have built a friendship with each other ever since joining forces on the 2024 Olympic team. Curry wore Booker’s Nike Book 1s against the Suns when he was testing out shoes following his Under Armour split.
The Suns and Warriors previously faced off on Christmas in 2021, when they entered the night as the league’s top two seeds.
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