The Arizona Republic

How to watch Cardinals and Suns games

- Bill Goodykoont­z Columnist Arizona Republic USA TODAY NETWORK Reach Goodykoont­z at bill.goody koontz@arizonarep­ublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFil­m. Twitter: @goodyk. Subscribe to the weekly movies newsletter.

How to watch the Arizona Cardinals and Phoenix Suns on Christmas Day?

By revisiting a holiday classic, of course.

DeAndre Hopkins’ regular season was dead: to begin with.

There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his injury was signed by the coach, the trainer, the physician and the chief mourners — the fans. Hopkins’ regular season was dead as a doornail.

Most grievous apologies to Charles Dickens aside, Hopkins’ absence really does make watching the Arizona Cardinals a little less fun on Christmas Day. (The team hopes to have him back in late January.)

But there’s still Kyler Murray, who is in some ways the Tiny Tim of the operation — a bit undersized, yes, but the heart and soul of the whole thing.

What time the Suns and Cardinals play and on what channel

The real gift here, though, is a rare double-dip, two local teams enjoying national broadcasts on the same day.

Not just any teams, but the two best in the Valley: the Suns and the Cardinals.

Not just any day, but Christmas Day. And not just any opponents. The Cardinals host the Indianapol­is Colts — OK, not a five-star matchup, but not nothing — and the Suns host the Golden State Warriors. Now that is a holiday miracle.

The Suns-Warriors game is on ABC 15 at 3 p.m. The Cardinals-Colts are on the NFL Network at 5 p.m. It really is the best of both worlds for Valley sports fans. Well, those who have the NFL Network, at least.

Kurt Warner and Joe Davis will call Cardinals’ game on NFL Network

As a bonus for Cardinals fans, Kurt Warner will be the analyst, working with play-by-play announcer Joe Davis. Warner is a good analyst, not afraid to call out mistakes and bad plays. It will be interestin­g to see if he’s that forthcomin­g about his former team.

It will also be interestin­g to see if Warner mentions “American Under dog,” the movie about his life that arrives in theaters on Christmas Day. If there isn’t a boatload of commercial­s for it throughout the game, the studio is missing a boffo marketing opportunit­y.

Mark Jones and Doris Burke will call Suns’ game on ABC

The ABC broadcast team for the Suns-Warriors will be Mark Jones and Doris Burke. Burke is a fantastic analyst who knows the game inside and out. It makes sense that she’ll be there — these are the two best teams in the league.

They’ve split games already. They’re both fun to watch.

What to expect from Steph Curry and Kyler Murray

And if that weren’t enough, this is: Curry is the single most exciting athlete playing in any sport right now. He’s not just a great 3-point shooter — the best in history, actually — but he’s also a great all-around player.

Murray makes the Cardinals fun to watch because you never know what he’s going to do. The Suns’ offense is similarly enticing and unpredicta­ble.

The Suns are a blast to watch, but Curry is a generation­al talent and mustsee TV, and he’s playing as good or better than ever.

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