By Justin Batiste
Since Stephen Curry and Isaiah Thomas won’t be playing on Christmas day, what other game should be on everyone’s watch list?
Christmas is a day where we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, but it’s also a day of NBA basketball games all day long and it’s great. Today we have the Philadelphia 76ers at New York Knicks at 12:00 ET, Cleveland Cavaliers at Golden State Warriors at 3:00 ET, Washington Wizards at Boston Celtics at 5:30 ET, Houston Rockets at Oklahoma City Thunder at 8:00 ET and Minnesota Timberwolves at Los Angeles Lakers at 10:30 ET.
The Warriors and Cavaliers are normally the game of the day whenever the two play on Christmas, but since and are out at the moment, today they’re not. and will be going up against each other, so they’ll make the game interesting, but because both rosters aren’t fully loaded this game can’t be judged.
So, because the Warriors and Cavaliers don’t have a full roster, the next best game is the Wizards at the Celtics. is the reason to why the Rockets and Thunder aren’t the next best game, he won’t be playing. Today is the first time the Wizards and Celtics will be going up against each other this season. This is also the first time two of the best point guards in the East will be going up against each other in and . Not to mention that these two teams can possibly see each other late in the playoffs.
Of course, the Celtics are the heavy favorites in this game, however, the Wizards can very well beat them at home. The Wizards have two stars in Wall and , and they match up well with the Celtics. The biggest advantage the Celtics have in this game is that their bench is better than Washington’s. Irving is also a major factor in this game.
Irving is known for playing big in big moments. This is a televised Christmas game, against a quality Eastern Conference opponent in the Wizards, so who knows what Irving has in store for us today. Other than that, the Wizards and Celtics are nearly the same in every major statistical category. Which should make for a competitive game between the two. The Wizards are in need of wins. A Christmas day victory could be a good win for them to build off of moving forward.
