The NBA announced the Christmas Day games for the 2021-22 season.
Christmas Day games have been a fixture throughout NBA history.
As we open up gifts and spend time with our families, we get to watch the best players across the league go head-to-head.
Next season’s schedule is filled with great team matchups and individual ones as well.
🎄 The NBA will feature five games on Christmas Day with ESPN or ABC televising each matchup! #NBAXMas #NBA75 pic.twitter.com/c52Oa3xwG9
— NBA (@NBA) August 17, 2021
We are excited for these games with them being announced so far in advance.
Basketball fans are already talking about each game and which one they are the most excited for.
Let us rank the games and see which one is at the top of everyone’s wish list.
5. Dallas Mavericks Vs. Utah Jazz
The last game to be televised that night comes in at number five on this list.
The Utah Jazz are coming off a great season where they finished with the number one seed in the Western Conference.
This was their best season in quite some time.
However, the marquee attraction is with the Dallas Mavericks, and that is Luka Doncic.
Doncic had a phenomenal summer, while leading his country of Slovenia to their first appearance in the Olympics.
He is currently positioned to be one of the favorites to win the MVP award in this upcoming season.
This matchup will be interesting to see if the best team of last season can take down one of the best young players we have ever seen.
4. Boston Celtics Vs. Milwaukee Bucks
Some people expected a potential Finals rematch between the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns to take place on Christmas Day.
However, the Bucks will face the Boston Celtics led by Jayson Tatum.
The Celtics are coming into the season looking brand new.
They have a new head coach and traded Kemba Walker.
The Bucks made very few changes, as they are the defending champs.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is looking to capitalize on his dominant postseason performance.
Christmas Day is a perfect way to make another statement to the league.
Can the Celtics take down Antetokounmpo and the defending champions on Christmas?
3. Golden State Warriors Vs. Phoenix Suns
One of the biggest surprises of last season was watching the Suns come within two wins of being crowned NBA champions.
Chris Paul is back and looking to help lead this team, alongside Devin Booker, back to the Finals.
However, Paul is going to face an old foe on Christmas.
The Golden State Warriors have had Paul’s number for quite some time now, especially Stephen Curry.
Regardless of the team, the Warriors find a way to beat Paul at all costs.
Perhaps this Suns team is different from the rest.
This can be a potential matchup to see who will be the second-best team in the Western Conference.
2. Atlanta Hawks Vs. New York Knicks
This might not be the best matchup in terms of talent on the court.
However, the New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks have formed the newest rivalry in basketball.
Trae Young has become the newest villain in Knicks history.
He went into Madison Square Garden and took over the place to knock out the Knicks in the playoffs this past season.
Young etched his name among great players to hate for Knicks fans after his performance.
Trae Young vs the Knicks in the 1st round of the 2021 playoffs:
■ 29.2 PPG
■ 2.8 RPG
■ 9.8 APG
■ 0.6 SPG
■ 44/34/91 splits
■ 57.4% TSShushed the garden. pic.twitter.com/cGYo9dX7Cf
— jay🥂 (@ghostedjay) August 18, 2021
This might not have two prohibitive favorites, or several stars, but it has one of the freshest rivalries in the game.
1. Brooklyn Nets Vs. Los Angeles Lakers
The obvious choice for the best game has to be the Brooklyn Nets facing the Los Angeles Lakers.
This can easily be the Finals preview.
Both of these teams are stacked with several superstars and future Hall of Famers.
Kevin Durant versus LeBron James has been a storyline for over a decade.
Russell Westbrook is going up against two of his former teammates.
Kyrie Irving is trying to take down his former teammate in James.
The storylines are there.
NETS-LAKERS ON CHRISTMAS DAY 🍿 🔥
(via @wojespn) pic.twitter.com/aL6gesIitY
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 17, 2021
The biggest takeaway is that these two teams are the clear cut favorites to win it all.
We get to see this matchup on one of the biggest stages on Christmas.
NEXT: 3 Top Highlights And Stories From 2021 NBA Summer League