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As a basketball fan, Christmas Day means more to me than just receiving presents — it’s an opportunity to watch some of the biggest NBA games of the year. I’m especially glad that with all the great streaming options available today, I don’t need cable to enjoy these Christmas matchups.
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The NBA on Christmas Day has been an event for basketball back to the 1940s. It only became televised starting in 1967. And it wasn’t until 1985 that all the games became televised. Now it’s an all day affair with basketball games running back-to-back.
This year’s Christmas Day slate offers five NBA matchups. They feature many of the best teams in the league, including the two teams in last year’s NBA finals.
The highlight is probably the Eastern Conference vs West showdown: the Celtics and the Lakers — an epic rivalry as old as the NBA itself. The defending champions Denver will also meet up with the 2022 title-holders they unseated, the Warriors, in a Western Conference clash.
ESPN starts coverage at 11:00 am (EST) with NBA Countdown Presented by Draftkings Sportsbook. The games start at 12:00 pm on ESPN:
Because Christmas falls on a Monday this year, ABC is only airing two of the games before moving on to NFL Monday Night Football. ESPN will continue the NBA coverage for the last two games.
Since 1947, the NBA Christmas game schedule has been a tradition highly cherished by sports fans all around the world. For 2023, the five Christmas Day games showcased by the NBA have been selected following the tried-and-true criteria of scheduling the current champions, selecting teams with exciting players, and presenting traditional matchups.
Let’s take a brief look at the games the NBA will be gifting us for Christmas this year:
The action will start at noon, as it often does for the Christmas games, in Madison Square Garden. Despite the Milwaukee Bucks’ establishment in 1965, their upcoming Christmas encounter with the Knicks will only be their second festive showdown. Their last holiday meeting concluded sadly for New York, with the Bucks securing a 109-95 win. Both teams lost their Yuletide games last year, which will have players and fans alike pushing for vengeance.
Milwaukee has the better record this season so far, 13-5 to New York’s 10-7, and Giannis Antetokounmpo is averaging 30.1 points against Jalen Brunson’s 24.1. The Bucks and Knicks will provide a preview to the Dec 25 game when they meet in the NBA In-Season Tournament Quarterfinals on Dec 5. The two teams will get a rematch on Christmas Eve Eve (Dec 23) before the big day.
As the reigning NBA champions, the Nuggets are guaranteed a Christmas game, and they get to host it. The Warriors claimed the championship in 2022, only for Denver to seize it in 2023.
The Warriors are 15-17 for Christmas (counting their early years in Philly, otherwise 10-12), which isn’t great, but the Nuggets have played nine Christmas games and lost seven of them. But the Nuggets did win last year, so they may be on a hot streak, especially with Steph Curry on the court.
Curry was absent from the Dubs’ clash against the Grizzlies last year, but we expect him to show up this year with (jingle) bells on against Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray. Denver also has the more promising record this season, 13-6 to Golden State’s 8-10, and they’re undefeated at home.
There is an unwritten NBA rule about showcasing the Lakers on Christmas Day, particularly when superstar forward LeBron James is the player with the most Christmas Day game appearances. The Lakers are also the team with the most Christmas wins (24) out of 49 total games.
The last time the Celtics and Lakers met at Christmas was in 2008, which ended with Kobe and Co. winning 92-83. Last season, the Celtics dominated the Lakers, but both teams have changed a lot of players this year. And the Lakers just suffered a scorching 44 point loss to the 76ers on Nov 27 — the worst of James’s twenty-year career.
Both teams have winning records this season, though Boston has the edge with 14-4 versus LA’s 11-8. It remains to be seen whether Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, and Jaylen Brown can hold off LeBron.
Miami generally brings the Heat on Christmas, with an impressive 11-2 all-time record (6-0 at home). Last year’s Eastern Conference champs are riding high — 10-8 — but not quite as high as Philadelphia (12-6). Philadelphia has a less stellar 19-14 holiday record, but they’ve also been playing Christmas games a lot longer.
2022-23 MVP Joel Embiid + Tyrese Maxey = hard to beat, but Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler are leading them in the odds at 1.78. And thankfully, the odds of James Harden drama at this game are 0%.
The Suns have played Christmas 20 times, and are doing pretty well in winning 12 of those. Despite a nearly identical record this season (11 wins each and the Suns have one more loss), Phoenix is expected to take out the Mavs, Luka Dončić, Kyrie Irving, and all. In fact, powered by Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, the Suns are favorites to go all the way to the Championship this year.
Don’t want to read the whole guide? What you need to know is that the 2023 Christmas games are televised across ESPN and ABC. Depending on where you live, you can watch two of them for free with an antenna via ABC. See our Antenna Guide for details on doing this.
But most cord-cutters prefer to stream. And the great thing about the Christmas Day games is that you have some good options for streaming the two channels they’re televised on. If you want to watch NBA Christmas Day games without cable, we recommend FuboTV, Hulu + Live TV, or Sling TV. These cable TV alternatives offer ESPN, as well as access to the ABC games.
FuboTV offers both ESPN and ABC, so it’s the perfect service for watching NBA Christmas games. And if you opt for the trial, you can watch them all live for free.
It’s a great service for sports fans with great coverage of soccer and major leagues like NFL, MLB, and NHL. A bit about the service:
FuboTV is one of the top services for streaming live sports and is a great option for streaming NBA Christmas games. To learn which channels fuboTV does have, check out this channels guide.
Sling TV offers live streaming of channels with no cable contract. However, it is different from other streaming services in offering a low-cost base plan with a large number of options for mre. Sling Orange is $45.99/month and offers ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN3. This last channel is great because it streams everything from ABC Sports — and more.
For more info, check out our Sling TV review, or see our guide to watching the Christmas Day NBA games on Sling TV.
Hulu + Live TV is a streaming service that offers 85+ live channels, along with Hulu’s popular on-demand service, ESPN+, and Disney+. You get all that for $82.99/month.
Start Hulu + Live TV Free Trial ↗︎
Hulu Live prices are considerably lower than cable, yet the service still allows you to watch most of your favorite channels live. Ready to try it out to watch NBA Christmas games online?
Fubo, Hulu, and Sling all support most streaming devices on the market. These include:
Hulu + Live TV also supports Nintendo Switch and PlayStation units.
After diving into several streaming options, Fubo came out on top for NBA Christmas games. Its reliable streams on ESPN and ABC mean you won’t miss a second, and the crystal-clear quality holds strong even during the busiest moments. The interface is super user-friendly, and the DVR lets you catch up easily if life interrupts. What really sets Fubo apart is its flexibility – it works on nearly any device and even offers multi-screen viewing. For hosting friends or solo watching, it’s the most practical choice by far.
This page was revised 8 times between May 2022 and November 2023.
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