Merry Christmas, Memphis. The Grizzlies are in line to be a part of that holiday NBA showcase for the first time.
Jaa Morant and the Grizzlies will face Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and the rest of the NBA champion Golden State Warriors on December 25 in San Francisco, according to a person familiar with the league’s scheduling plans. The person spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity on Monday because the league does not plan to release the full schedule of the season until the end of this week.
Given that the league has not announced a final 1,230-game season slate, it is still possible that the Christmas schedule could change – although such a move is unlikely.
The Grizzlies were one of two current NBA franchises still to have a game on December 25. The Charlotte Hornets are now the only club still awaiting their first Christmas schedule invitation.
The rest of the Christmas event, the person said, will see Philadelphia facing New York, Milwaukee against Boston, Dallas against the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix against two-time MVP Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.
If Lakers’ LeBron James – the all-time Christmas scoring leader who enters NBA history 1,325 points behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – appears in a December 25 match against the Mavericks, it will be his 17th match. Holiday play time. This will break the biggest tie ever with Lakers great Kobe Bryant.
Golden State and Memphis met in the second round of last season’s playoffs, as did Milwaukee and Boston.
This will mark the fifth year in a row that Christmas – again, except for a late change – does not feature a rematch of the NBA Finals. Golden State topped Boston for this past season’s championship; Since the Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers played in the 2017–18 season, there has not been a final rematch on December 25, en route to a fourth consecutive meeting in the title series.
Absolutely absent from the Christmas program: Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets. Durant told the Nets in June that he wanted to do business elsewhere, repeating that request earlier this month.
Dallas will host the Christmas game for the second time. The second was in 2011, when the Mavericks topped the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals the previous season. James and the Heat spoiled that season’s opener for the Mavericks by winning 105–94.
The Lakers will play Christmas for the 24th year in a row, the longest stretch in the league so far. Golden State will appear on Christmas for the 10th time in a row, Boston will make its seventh straight appearance, and Milwaukee will make its fifth straight appearance on December 25.
New York is playing Christmas for the 55th time, increasing its record.
Seven of the eight teams that made it to the conference’s semi-finals last season have featured in this year’s Christmas event. The exception to this is Miami, the East’s No. 1 seed last season, losing to Boston in seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Memphis is now getting a December 25 game, the longest Christmas drought other than Charlotte now belonging to Sacramento (the last Christmas game in 2003), Indiana (2004), Detroit (2005) and Orlando (2011).
The NBA season opens on October 18. Training camps open at the end of September.
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