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Despite OKC's championship hopes, the Thunder are missing from the NBA Christmas games

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The Thunder's inclusion on the NBA's Christmas Day schedule seemed a foregone conclusion. Last season they were the No. 1 seed in the tough Western Conference, were named MVP runner-up, and were the favorites to win the West this time around. All the makings of a must-see TV event.

But instead of warming themselves against thousands of bodies at the Paycom Center or elsewhere, Oklahoma City fans will once again have to sit next to an open fire and at their in-laws' homes.

Shams Charania of The Athletic revealed late Thursday the league's five Christmas games that the Thunder did not participate in. Instead, the Nuggets will travel to Phoenix, the Lakers will face the Warriors, the Celtics will host the 76ers, the Timberwolves will play in Dallas and the Spurs will play at Madison Square Garden.

The Thunder's glaring absence left fans in an uproar.

But which pairings make the most sense for the holiday program:

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Lakers at Warriors

There are no changes here. From a league perspective, this is as predictable a matchup as any. As long as LeBron James and Stephen Curry continue to be capable and give their teams a spark of hope and the fans a spark of nostalgia, this matchup will live on.

If James keeps it up, the duel will last longer than the Fast and the Furious franchise. And no matter what status or standing the two organizations have, their encounters still make for some particularly entertaining basketball.

After shaping the last generation of NBA basketball, the last few weeks of James and Curry playing together at the Paris Olympics are a reminder of what makes the two so special, what they mean to the game and how much those precious, waning moments mean. Their Paris partnership has reinvigorated – and united – the generation that once chose sides in constant NBA Finals battles.

There's no telling if this Christmas will be her last truly meaningful one, but in August it was a breeze.

Timberwolves at Mavericks

Perfect, no notes. A high-class clash between two top teams in the Western Conference and a rematch of the Western Conference final.

Yes, maybe the series wasn't as competitive as it could have been. Maybe the Mavericks and Timberwolves aren't stronger rivals than the Mavs and Thunder or the Nuggets and T'Wolves. But in this historically competent West, every contender is tied with every other. There's no entertainment or significant nastiness lost by swapping opponents.

For those who thought the writers didn't need to look any further than a Thunder-Mavs matchup on Christmas Day, they can only give them credit for not looking forward to such a matchup on opening night. That would make more sense.

If the Thunder don't visit the American Airlines Center for the season opener, you can throw as many tomatoes there as you want.

More: What will the OKC Thunder roster look like for the 2024-25 season after the signing of Isaiah Hartenstein?

Two alternate realities with Thunder change the NBA Christmas program

Thunder at Nuggets (sorry, Suns)

The Thunder had an interesting season with the Nuggets last year. A blowout victory before anyone realized what OKC really was; a game-winner that convinced viewers of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's MVP candidacy; a blowout victory for the Thunder that highlighted what OKC really was.

Even though the Nuggets fell back in the offseason, it's still relatively easy to bet on Nikola Jokic. But the Thunder are next. They'll remain two of the league's best-oiled machines for the foreseeable future.

The argument here, however, is more about the Suns. From a business perspective and a league perspective, it's easy to understand why the Suns are here. Kevin Durant remains extremely popular, as does Devin Booker. Phoenix's potential may be depressing, marred by the new CBA landscape and its own decisions, but exposure to the casual fan is important. Plus, the Suns and Nuggets have recently made playoff history.

However, given everything the Thunder have to offer, the decision to put them ahead of the seemingly struggling Suns would not be a disappointment.

Spurs at Thunder, Knicks at Celtics (sorry, Sixers):

As random as the matchup between the Spurs (ranked 14th in the West last year) and the Knicks may feel, the goal is painfully obvious: to bring Victor Wembanyama and the Wembanyettes to basketball's biggest Broadway stage.

Some might call it shabby, others would call it what it is: a marketing dream for the NBA. Wembanyama will soon be the league's biggest draw, and even sooner, a top-10 player in the world. The Knicks are showing more promise than they have in years; there's no way they can be left out of the Christmas field.

But in the interest of basketball and rationality, let's include the Thunder here.

We need the Knicks like we need air on Christmas, so they shouldn't be pushed out. Instead, they should bring their talent to Boston. Or vice versa, it doesn't matter. The league could very well save the matchup for opening night, which would be great. New York is probably the biggest threat to Boston's hopes of a repeat. The meeting deserves the big stage.

That forces the Sixers to count cash. Given the importance of Joel Embiid and the signing of Paul George, that's probably not realistic, but is Philly really a better opponent than the Knicks? The Thunder have to fit in somewhere, right?

If the NBA is understandably so determined to push Wembanyama as the face of the next generation, they should give him a matchup with real history and context on Christmas Day. Wembanyama has been linked to Chet Holmgren for years.

Their matchups still cause contention, and the race for Rookie of the Year was the subject of heated debate for at least a few months last year. Once Wembanyama finally gets the Spurs out of the trenches, the two programs will become real rivals again. Why not get a head start with a Christmas game?

Oklahoma City isn't as sexy as New York, but the storylines and rivalry are.

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