NBA Christmas Day 2024 Schedule Prediction

Every NBA fan knows the monumental significance of Christmas Day in the league calendar. On December 25th of each year, star players compete in major matchups between prominent teams. Many eyes are on the league on this day, and there is no doubt that teams like the Minnesota Timberwolves are excited about this year's matchups.

That's mainly because the Wolves will be playing only their third Christmas game. After winning 56 games and being the best team in the Western Conference for most of the season, Minnesota advanced to the Western Conference Finals for only the second time in franchise history.

Now, the Timberwolves are surely looking forward to the release of the 2024 NBA schedule and hoping that they could be one of the 10 teams on the schedule on Christmas Day. Based on last season's results and everything we currently know, this is what the December 25th roster for the 2024-25 season could look like.

Last season, the league decided to set up the Christmas Day schedule with five Eastern and five Western teams. The day included two Eastern Conference games and two Western Conference games, plus one interconference game.

Should they decide to go in a similar direction next season, this seems like a very reasonable prediction for the pairings they might choose. The Knicks usually always have the first game of the day, especially when New York has a powerhouse team. Given their offseason, they're a sure candidate to open the day, and what better opponent to face than the team they beat in seven games in the Eastern semifinals?

Philadelphia will also be playing on Christmas following the signing of Paul George, and it would be a safe move to pair them with perhaps their biggest rival in the conference, as well as the reigning NBA champions, for what could be the most exciting matchup of the day.

One of the best opponents for Minnesota on Christmas would be the Bucks. Both teams are incredibly deep and the Timberwolves' frontcourt against Giannis Antetokounmpo would be must-see TV. Minnesota did enough last season in both the regular season and the playoffs to earn home court advantage in such an important game.

From then on, the league will always have the Lakers on Christmas, no matter how bad they are. If you want proof, just look at 2013-14, when they won 27 games and Kobe Bryant missed all but six games of the season, although he was still called up to play in a game on December 25th.

The league's schedulers probably want to give Los Angeles a good matchup to put them in a better position, so they'll match them up against the Thunder. Then Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic will dominate the final matchup. The NBA will no doubt want Stephen Curry on Christmas Day, but the Warriors have fallen so far that it's hard to justify it.