Christmas games still special for teams, players
MIAMI — Erik Spoelstra was part of 12 Christmas games as a staff member, assistant coach or head coach in his first 20 seasons with the Miami Heat.
And in the eight seasons that followed, the Heat played on Christmas only once.
Here’s what he realized: For an NBA team, playing on Christmas beats not playing on Christmas. The Heat return to the league’s holiday slate for the first time since 2020 on Monday, when they play host to the Philadelphia 76ers as part of the NBA’s traditional Christmas quintuple header.
The other games: Milwaukee at New York, Golden State visits defending champion Denver, the Lakers play host to Boston in the rekindling of the NBA’s greatest all-time rivalry, and Dallas goes to Phoenix.
The Christmas slate was long considered the unofficial point in the NBA schedule where more fans start paying attention. Football is winding down, and the NBA games are all shown nationally either on ABC or ESPN.
LeBron James will pay attention too — but not until certain other Christmas business is complete.
The NBA’s all-time leading scorer has played more games on Dec. 25 than anyone in league history, though his top priority entering the holiday is watching 9-year-old daughter Zhuri light up when she rips the wrapping paper off what’s coming her way.
“The only thing I care about Monday right now is my daughter waking up and opening her gifts,” James said Saturday after the Lakers beat Oklahoma City.
Embiid out
Reigning most valuable player Joel Embiid will not play against the Heat, with the 76ers ruling him out because of a sprained right ankle.
It’ll be the fourth game Embiid has missed this season for the 76ers, who are third in the Eastern Conference and fourth overall in the NBA, entering Monday with a 20-8 record. He has been on a tear in December, averaging 40.2 points and 12.6 rebounds on 61% shooting in nine games.
For the season, Embiid is averaging a league-best 35 points — on pace to win his third consecutive scoring title.
He’s had at least 30 points and 10 rebounds in each of his last 13 games, the NBA’s longest such streak since 1972 when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did it in 16 straight contests.
Embiid played most of Friday’s game against Toronto after hurting the ankle while trying to block a shot midway through the first quarter.
He was scoreless at that point, had 11 points by halftime and scored 20 more in the second half.
It’s possible he could rejoin the team Wednesday at Orlando.
The Heat may be without Jimmy Butler, who missed Miami’s last two games because of a calf strain and did not practice Sunday.
Embiid’s absence makes the Heat-76ers game the only one on the slate that won’t feature an MVP winner. The Bucks-Knicks game includes Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Nuggets-Warriors game has Nikola Jokic for the Nuggets and Stephen Curry for the Warriors, the Lakers-Celtics game has four-time MVP James and the Suns-Mavericks nightcap includes Suns forward Kevin Durant.
Most and least
The Lakers have the most Christmas wins with 24, one more than the Knicks. The Knicks will play on Christmas for the 56th time, extending their record.
The teams without a Christmas win are Charlotte (0-0), Memphis (0-1) and Toronto (0-2).
James will aim for his 11th win on Christmas, which would break a tie with former teammate Dwyane Wade for the most by a player. James will play in his 18th Christmas game, extending his record; Kobe Bryant played in 16 for the league’s second-highest total.
Among active players, Durant has the second most and is set to play on Christmas for the 11th time.
Spoelstra — who is 8-0 as a coach on the holiday — will try to become the fifth coach with nine Christmas wins.
He would join Jack Ramsay (11-3), Phil Jackson (11-7), Gene Shue (9-4) and Red Auerbach (9-6).
Same teams, pretty much
Of the 10 teams picked for Christmas this year, nine also played on Dec. 25 last year. The exception is Miami — the Eastern Conference champion Heat are back on the Christmas schedule, and Memphis is off after debuting last year.
The Lakers are on the Christmas schedule for the 25th consecutive year, and Golden State is playing for the 11th straight year.
Boston got a Christmas game for the eighth consecutive year, Milwaukee for the sixth straight and Dallas for the fourth in a row.
New York and Phoenix have been picked in each of the last three years, and Denver and Philadelphia are back on the Christmas schedule for the second straight season.
Milestones await
Dallas’ Luka Doncic will arrive in Phoenix 11 points shy of reaching 10,000 for his career.
If he gets there Monday against the Suns, the milestone will come in his 358th career game — tying Bob McAdoo for the sixth fastest to 10,000 points in NBA history.
The others who got there faster: Wilt Chamberlain (236 games), Michael Jordan (303), Elgin Baylor (315), Abdul-Jabbar (319) and Oscar Robertson (334).
Meanwhile, for the Suns, Durant needs one point to become the fifth player in history with 300 on Christmas. He’d join James (460 entering Monday), Bryant (395), Robertson (377) and Wade (314) on that list.