LeBron battles Warriors today
There's no NBA Finals rematch this year on Christmas. Not technically, anyway. It's LeBron James vs. the Golden State Warriors for the fourth consecutive year on Dec. 25, though James will be wearing a Los Angeles Lakers uniform this time.
It was a predictable matchup. It isn't, however, a break from tradition.
That's one of the biggest misnomers about the NBA and the schedule. An NBA Finals rematch is not common, not the norm, not a guarantee for the last two teams that were standing the previous season. The league has crowned a champion every year since 1947, and the tradition of Christmas Day games started later that same year. (They've been an annual fixture since, with the exception of 1998, when a lockout didn't allow that season to begin until February.)
But there have been only nine NBA Finals rematches on Dec. 25. The recent Golden State-Cleveland history may make it seem like more.
James has been in five Finals rematches on Christmas, all since 2011: Miami vs. Dallas that year, Oklahoma City vs. Miami the following year, and Cleveland vs. Golden State in each of the last three years.
The other four rematches on the holiday: Orlando vs. Houston in 1995, Philadelphia vs. the Lakers in 2001, San Antonio vs. Detroit in 2005 and Boston vs. the Lakers in 2008.
So instead of a Cavs-Warriors rematch, getting Lakers vs. Warriors — for the first time in the LeBron LA era — makes perfect sense.
"Bron is Bron," Warriors forward Draymond Green said. "They're going to be tough, a tough matchup on Christmas Day, but we're looking forward to it."
CHRISTMAS LINEUP
Tuesday's slate starts with Milwaukee at New York, followed by Oklahoma City at Houston, Philadelphia at Boston, the Lakers at the Warriors and then Portland at Utah. It's Milwaukee's first Christmas game since 1977, which will end what was by far the league's longest Dec. 25 drought. Utah hasn't played on Christmas since 1997.
A look at each of the five games:
BUCKS AT KNICKS
Congratulations to the schedulemakers, because there's no way they could have known this Christmas game would be wrapped in animus. Giannis Antetokounmpo was peeved at New York forward Mario Hezonja — who dunked on him, stared at him and then stepped over him when the teams met on Dec. 1.
THUNDER AT ROCKETS
A rematch of a game from Christmas 2017, which the Thunder won 112107. Oklahoma City is 6-2 on Christmas since the team moved there; when the franchise was in Seattle, it was 0-11 on the holiday. Rockets star Chris Paul will miss Christmas for the third straight year — with the Clippers, he had a left hamstring strain and missed their game against the Lakers in 2016, he sat out last year's HoustonOKC game with a groin strain and this year, it's another left hamstring issue that will keep him out.
76ERS AT CELTICS
These are heated, historic rivals, but they've met on Christmas only once before — in 1961, when the 76ers were the Syracuse Nationals. Boston, which famously avoided home Christmas games forever (the Celtics played their first 30 such games away from Boston), will be at home on the holiday for the second consecutive season.