The NBA season is getting close to Christmas Day and that means the marquee matchup of the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers is almost here.
The NBA has a great slate of games on Christmas this year, including the Cavs-Warriors, Spurs and Rockets, Clippers and Lakers along with the Bulls taking on the Thunder. There will be plenty of stars on TV for those games and the most anticipated matchup of course is the NBA finals rematch between the Cavaliers and the Warriors.
Here are some things to know heading into Christmas Day
Will the Warriors start streaking again?
The Warriors opened the season 24-0 before finally losing to the Bucks, but the team has already bounced back, winning over the Suns to improve to 25-1 on the season. The team blew out the Suns and they have been blowing out opponents all year and the team is likely to start streaking again. The Warriors have two more games between now and Christmas against the Cavs and the team could potentially come into that game at 27-1. If the teams can get past the Cavs, there is a chance they could start another winning streak through the end of December and beyond into 2016.
Cavaliers-Warriors best Christmas matchup
The NBA schedule for Christmas has some solid games, but the one everyone is looking forward to is the Cavs and Warriors. The game will be in the Bay Area and will air on ABC starting up at 5 pm ET. The Cavaliers could be back at full strength for that game and this would mark the first time the teams have played at full strength if everyone is healthy, as the Cavs were shorthanded in the finals last season. Kevin Love was out for most of the playoffs and Kyrie Irving missed nearly all of the finals after injuring his knee.
The Christmas schedule has some fun games
The Cavs and Warriors game is the best matchup for the holiday, but the schedule overall has some fun games. The Miami Heat will play against the Pelicans, giving Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Hassan Whiteside the chance to play against Anthony Davis in front of a national audience. Derrick Rose and the Bulls are matching up with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and the OKC Thunder, while the Spurs and Rockets will play an all-Texas matchup in the evening. The Clippers and Lakers are playing at the Staples Center with the Lakers as the home team in the final Christmas game for Kobe Bryant.
Will Kyrie Irving and Iman Shumpert play on Christmas?
The Cavaliers have not played with a full, healthy lineup in forever and the first time could potentially come on Christmas against the Warriors. The team got Iman Shumpert back last week from a wrist injury, but he just went down with a groin injury and could miss a couple games. Irving has not yet played this season and after reports came out that he would return on Thursday, it's looking more likely he will be back next week. The Cavs are hoping to have both players healthy on Christmas.
There has been talk of trades around the league with notable players
There has been some talk around the league regarding trades heading into the end of December and names like DeMarcus Cousins, Markieff Morris, Hassan Whiteside and Ryan Anderson have come up as potential targets. Cousins and Whiteside are likely not going anywhere, but Morris could be traded over the next month from the Suns. Ty Lawson has also come up in trade talk.
Check here for more on the NBA and the Christmas Day schedule.
