OKC gifted Xmas headline spot

NEW YORK — The Oklahoma City Thunder felt slighted last season when it was left off the NBA's Christmas schedule.

That won't be an issue this year.

MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the NBA champion Thunder will be working at home for Christmas this season, playing host to Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs as part of the league's annual Dec 25 quintuple-header. BetMGM Sportsbook has the Thunder favored by 9.5 points.

The other Christmas games, released by the NBA on Tuesday: Cleveland at New York, Houston being hosted by LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers, No 1 pick Cooper Flagg and Dallas visiting Golden State, and Minnesota playing at Denver.

Some NBA Cup games are scheduled to be released Wednesday and the full schedule — 80 of the 82 games for all teams — is to be released on Thursday. The remaining two games for each club will be filled in December based on how teams fare in the NBA Cup.

"They make the schedule. We play it," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said last season, when asked about his club not being picked for the Dec 25 lineup.

"Our players, I know, would have liked to play on Christmas, because that's such a staple day in the NBA season. But, we can't control that."

Well, this season, they sort of did control their Christmas scheduling fate.

The NBA champion typically get invited to play on Christmas Day the following season; OKC beat Indiana in a seven-game NBA Finals last season. The Eastern Conference champion Pacers are among the Christmas snubs this year, after losing Tyrese Haliburton to an Achilles tear that will sideline him for the entirety of this season and seeing Myles Turner opt to sign with Milwaukee in free agency.

The Knicks will be playing their 58th Christmas game, extending their NBA record.

The first Christmas game in league history was at Madison Square Garden in 1947.

Boston, Philadelphia and Phoenix played on Christmas Day last season, but didn't make the cut this year, replaced by Cleveland (which was the East's No 1 seed), Houston (which landed Kevin Durant in an offseason blockbuster trade from the Suns) and the Thunder.

Cleveland and the Thunder are playing on Christmas Day for the first time since 2018. The Rockets have a Christmas game for the first time since 2019.

James, if he plays on the holiday, will be making his 20th Christmas appearance in his record 23rd NBA season. Only 12 NBA franchises have 20 Christmas games to their name, and James could soon have that many as a player.

Opening night

The NBA officially starts with opening night on Oct 21, when the Thunder will receive its championship rings, before playing host to Durant and the Rockets in the first game of the season.

That will be followed by Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and Golden State taking on James, Luka Doncic and the Lakers in the second game of the NBC doubleheader.

Those are the only two games slated to take place on opening night.

Agencies Via Xinhua