NBA Christmas Day Basketball

Each Year the NBA schedules some of the best possible match-ups for Christmas Day. In hopes of giving NBA fans the chance to see some of the greatest athletes and teams battle out while we sit at home with our families stuffing our face with food all day. In this blog I will discuss about the five match ups; The players to watch in these games, Which team has the best jersey, and the final outcomes. (The Rankings I will reference to are from Marc Stein on Mon, Dec 7 found here (NBA Week Six Power Rankings))

Pelicans vs. Heat

New Orleans Pelicans @ Miami Heat, 11 am, ESPN

First game of the day will have the 22nd ranked Pelicans taking on the 3rd rank Heat in Miami. The Pelicans with two of the game's great young ones, starting with their point guard Jrue Holiday and the big guy down low Anthony Davis. While the Heat bring in a mix of old and young with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh leading their teams to being the 3rd rank team, but the real player to watch will be the young Hassan Whiteside. The Christmas Day jerseys are always something to be talked about as you can see in the picture above, out of these two jerseys I like the big loopy letters on the front of the Heats jerseys.

Miami 107 - Pelicans 93

Thunder vs. Bulls

Chicago Bulls @ Oklahoma City Thunder, 1:30pm, ABC

The 4th ranked Bulls head into Oklahoma City to face the 5th ranked Thunder. The Bulls have a great team and the most important players in this game will be Jimmy Butler having a heck of a game will lead the bulls to victory along with the Bulls big guys Gibson and Gasol being a large presence in the middle of the lane. For the Thunder Russell Westbrook is going to play well, but the player who will have the best game this day will be Kevin Durant I don't think they will be able to guard him. The Thunder and Bulls jerseys are both going to be really cool, but in my opinion the Bulls jersey wins this match up.

Thunder 106 - Bulls 102

Cleveland Cavaliers @ Golden State Warriors, 4 pm, ABC

Warriors vs. Cavs

The 6th ranked Cavs head to Oakland to take on the number 1 ranked Warriors in a matchup of last years NBA Finals. The Cavaliers will bring in LeBron James and Kevin Love, but one of the biggest ifs for this game will their starting pg Kyrie Irving make it back for his first start since getting hurt in last years NBA finals. The Warriors will set up shop with their deep NBA roster that is off to a 22-0 start best in NBA history with their leader Steph Curry and cast, but this will be Klay Thompson break out game of the year. In this jersey Match up I give it to the Warriors with a cool blue jersey.

Warriors 118 - Cavaliers 111

Spurs vs. Rockets

San Antonio Spurs @ Houston Rockets, 7 pm ESPN

The 2nd ranked Spurs head up to Houston to play the 18th ranked Rockets in this Western Conference matchup. The Spurs bring in LaMarcus Aldridge down low and will have Kawhi Leonard stand out and have his best game of the year. The Rockets bring in last years MVP runner up James Harden. The one thing the Rockets will win on Christmas day is the jersey match-up.

 

Spurs 103 - Houston 92

Clippers vs. Lakers

Los Angeles Clippers @ Los Angeles Lakers, 9:30, ESPN

The 17th ranked Clippers will face the 29th ranked Lakers in the night cap for NBA games on Christmas. The Clippers have Chris Paul who will have a great game along with Blake Griffin, both will dominate due to the lack of playing ability for the Lakers this season. The Lakers will bring in Kobe Bryant even though this is his worst ever shooting year as an NBA player, He also announced his retirement at the end of the season and his really the only thing good coming from the Lakers this year and that's talking about the past. I also think the Lakers jerseys beat the Clippers and that will be the silver lining to the night for the Lakers.

Clippers 121 - Lakers 88

Michael Standley
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@mikestandley23