The NBA Christmas Day schedule for 2013 has some great games with teams like the Chicago Bulls, NY Knicks and Houston Rockets in action and the best game could be the Miami Heat visiting the Los Angeles Lakers and in that game, Ray Allen and LeBron James will be the focus with Kobe Bryant out, while the Bulls and Nets game will lose some luster without Derrick Rose.
The NFL has the Thanksgiving holiday on lockdown and here is where the NBA gets the chance to shine, as they dominate Christmas with their best games and this year there are five matchups and a number of premier teams and players will be in action. The first matchup of the day starts early at 12 noon with the Chicago Bulls and the Brooklyn Nets playing and that game will be on ESPN and live in Chicago on WGN. The matchup is a rematch of the first round of the playoffs last season and that saw the Bulls win the series in seven games and this time around, like in the postseason, there will be no Derrick Rose in the lineup, as he is likely out for the season with another knee injury.
The next game on the schedule has Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder visiting Madison Square Garden and the New York Knicks. While the NY team has not been off to the start they or the NBA have wanted, the team will still be a big draw on Christmas with Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler coming back. The team is in the bottom of the east right now, but the weakness of the conference means they can get right back into things and that is what the NBA and James Dolan would love.
The next game is another marquee matchup but also one where another star will be missing, as LeBron James and Miami Heat travel to play the Los Angeles Lakers. Kobe Bryant will miss that game after injuring his knee and he could be out for over a month with the injury for LA. The Lakers have been dealing with tons of injuries, while Miami has continued to look like a defending champion and this could end up being an easy win for the team.
The Houston Rockets and the San Antonio Spurs are up next and those teams will play the night game on ESPN, while the last two games before it are on ABC and the game will start up at 8 pm after the Lakers and Heat. The matchup has two solid Texas teams and big men in Dwight Howard and Tim Duncan and it could be a preview of one of the western conference matchups in the playoffs. The final game has the LA Clippers and the Golden State Warriors playing in a California matchup and that game will be at Oracle Arena in the Bay Area and starts up at 10:30 pm and will also be on ESPN.