NBA Christmas Day 2024 Schedule: Game-by-Game Preview and Analysis

With all due respect to past Christmas Day NBA slates, the 2024 version may lay claim to being the best one the league has ever seen.

Of note, we have the Christmas Day debut of San Antonio Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama, LeBron James vs. Stephen Curry, Nikola Jokić vs. Kevin Durant, a Western Conference Finals rematch and the defending NBA champions taking on one of their greatest threats to a return trip to the Finals.

It's a winter sports tradition unlike any other, and it's also must-see television for basketball fans. Here's a look at the 2024 matchups:

• San Antonio Spurs at New York Knicks, Madison Square Garden, 12 p.m. ET
• Minnesota Timberwolves at Dallas Mavericks, American Airlines Center, 2:30 p.m. ET
• Philadelphia 76ers at Boston Celtics, TD Garden, 5 p.m. ET
• Los Angeles Lakers at Golden State Warriors, Chase Center, 8:30 p.m. ET
• Denver Nuggets at Phoenix Suns, Footprint Center, 10:30 p.m. ET

Keep reading for a game-by-game preview and matchup analysis for all five contests.

One of the best games of the 2023-24 regular season occurred on March 29, when the Spurs outlasted the Knicks 130-126 in double overtime. Spurs star Victor Wembanyana finished with a 40-point, 20-rebound outing, and Knicks star Jalen Brunson scored 61 points.

In a vacuum, it was one of the year's instant classics. From a longer-term point of view, it featured two teams on the rise who could be making massive improvements in 2024-25.

The Knicks won 50 games, earned the No. 2 seed and made the second round of the playoffs, but injuries prevented the team from reaching its true ceiling. But the Knicks have made a integral addition to the squad, trading for another ex-Villanova star in Mikal Bridges to join his former collegiate teammates in Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo.

Meanwhile, the Spurs have made improvements, adding 12-time All-Star and four-time All-NBA First Team member Chris Paul and trading for Sacramento Kings forward Harrison Barnes. San Antonio also added UConn guard Stephon Castle with the No. 4 overall pick in the NBA draft.

San Antonio went 22-60 last year but finished the season 7-4 in its last 11 games, creating hope for a much brighter future that could be realized next season, especially with those three additions onboard.

Ultimately, this is a fascinating game to start the Christmas Day slate between two teams on the rise with great star power.

The rematch of the Western Conference Finals will go down on Christmas Day, when the Minnesota Timberwolves visit the Dallas Mavericks.

The Mavs defeated the T'Wolves in five games in last year's playoffs. Dallas stole momentum from Minnesota early on, taking down its opponent 108-105 in Game 1 and 109-108 in Game 2 in Minneapolis.

The second game was a heartbreaker for Minnesota, which led Dallas by 16 points in the third quarter but couldn't finish the job. Luka Dončić ended up hitting the game-winning three-pointer over Rudy Gobert with three seconds left to help earn the win.

Dončić averaged 32.4 points, 9.6 rebounds and 8.2 assists in the series, while Kyrie Irving posted 27.0 PPG to complement that effort. For Minnesota, Anthony Edwards averaged 24.6 points, 8.8 rebounds and 7.8 assists, but Karl-Anthony Towns struggled mightily from the field. Despite scoring 19.6 PPG, Towns shot just 37.9 percent from the field and 24.2 percent from three.

This, of course, would have been a much different series had the Timberwolves been able to win one (or both) of Games 1 and 2, and if Towns was able to shoot to his averages. But these two teams matched up and created some dramatic action, which could very well continue on Christmas.

The Boston Celtics enter the regular season as the NBA's clear Eastern Conference and NBA title favorite. The big question is whether a contender or two emerges in the East to topple Boston from its perch following an 80-21 season (64-18 regular season, 16-3 playoffs).

Philadelphia can certainly throw its hat into the ring after adding Paul George, a nine-time All-Star. George has been the first or second option on his team throughout his career, but he'll be No. 3 in Philadelphia behind 2022-23 NBA MVP Joel Embiid and rising superstar point guard Tyrese Maxey, who just averaged 25.9 points per game in his first All-Star season.

But the Celtics are just a massive problem for every team in basketball. They retain the core that led to that 80-win season, including the entire starting lineup. In fact, the top 11 scorers from last year have returned, and the Celtics also added some intriguing talent in the draft via Baylor Scheierman of Creighton and Anton Watson of Gonzaga.

Ultimately, the Celtics sit on the NBA's mountaintop until otherwise noted. At some point, they'll be knocked of that perch, but it's unclear when that happens. It very well may not be next year, but if so, then Philadelphia is a candidate to get that done.

It's unclear when LeBron James is going to put a bow on his tremendous career, but it's not entirely out of the question that it could be soon, perhaps after the next season or two. This offseason, James signed a two-year contract that includes a player option for 2025-26 season. It's conceivable that he calls it a career in 2025.

He hasn't had anything left to prove as a professional basketball player for quite some time, but he'll knock off one massive accomplishment at some point during the 2024-25 season when he steps on the court alongside his eldest son, Bronny James, making NBA history along the way.

Perhaps James defies time and logic more and plays a few more years. But it's fair to wonder whether James could be playing his last Christmas Day game ever, or maybe the penultimate one.

This year, James matches up with his biggest on-court rival, Stephen Curry. The two played against each other in the NBA Finals for four straight years, with Curry's Golden State Warriors winning three against James' Cleveland Cavaliers. The most iconic series in that stretch (2016) saw the Cavs overcome a 3-1 deficit to beat a 73-win Warriors team 4-3 and earn Cleveland's first pro championship since 1964.

So they'll battle once again now after finding themselves as teammates on Team USA during their gold-medal winning run at the Paris Summer Olympics. It'll be must-see television again, of course.

Two legends will go at it in the evening's final matchup as reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokić and the Denver Nuggets face off against Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns.

Both players have tremendous resumes. Jokić is a three-time MVP and six-time All-Star who led Denver to the 2022-23 championship. Durant is a two-time NBA champion, 2023-14 NBA MVP, 14-time NBA All-Star and six-time First Team member.

Both superstars are also trying to lead their teams back from disappointing seasons. The Nuggets fell in seven Western Conference semifinal games to the Minnesota Timberwolves despite leading by 20 points in Game 7. The Suns lost to those same T-Wolves in a first-round sweep after sneaking into the playoffs as a No. 6 seed following an up-and-down 49-33 campaign.

Both teams have the talent for better seasons, with the Nuggets retaining their core four (Jokić, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter Jr.) and the Suns keeping their big three (Durant, Devin Booker, Bradley Beal). Better health will certainly go a long way toward both teams improving upon last year's campaign, but the two franchises still have to navigate an incredibly treacherous Western Conference.