The Memphis Grizzlies are in line to be a part of the NBA’s Christmas Day slate of games for the primary time.
Ja Morant and the Grizzlies will face Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and the remaining of the reigning NBA champion Golden State Warriors on Dec. 25 in San Francisco, a source with knowledge of the league’s scheduling plans told The Associated Press.
The Grizzlies were considered one of two current NBA franchises yet to have a game on Dec. 25. The Charlotte Hornets are actually the one club still waiting for its first Christmas schedule invite.
The remainder of the Christmas schedule may have Philadelphia facing Latest York, Milwaukee meeting Boston, the Los Angeles Lakers playing against Dallas and Phoenix going up against two-time reigning MVP Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.
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The Athletic was first to report on the complete Christmas Day lineup of games. The NBA is anticipated to release the season’s full schedule later this week. The season opens Oct. 18. Training camps open in late September.
If the Lakers’ LeBron James — the all-time Christmas scoring leader, who enters the season 1,325 points behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for essentially the most in NBA history — appears in that Dec. 25 game against the Mavericks, it’ll be his seventeenth time playing on the vacation. That might break a tie with Lakers great Kobe Bryant for essentially the most ever.
Golden State and Memphis met within the second round of last season’s playoffs, as did Milwaukee and Boston.
This can mark the fifth consecutive yr that Christmas — again, barring a late change — doesn’t feature a rematch of the NBA Finals. Golden State topped Boston for last season’s championship; there hasn’t been a Finals rematch on Dec. 25 for the reason that Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers played within the 2017-18 season, on their approach to a fourth consecutive meeting within the title series.
Noticeably absent from the Christmas schedule: Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets. Durant told the Nets in June that he wants a trade elsewhere, reiterating that request earlier this month.
Dallas will host a Christmas game for the second time. The primary was in 2011, after the Mavericks topped the Miami Heat within the NBA Finals the previous season. James and the Heat spoiled that season opener for the Mavericks, winning 105-94.
The Lakers will probably be playing on Christmas for the twenty fourth consecutive yr, by far the longest stretch within the league. Golden State will make its tenth consecutive Christmas appearance, Boston its seventh in a row and Milwaukee its fifth straight on Dec. 25.
Latest York is playing on Christmas for the fifty fifth time, extending its record.
Of the eight teams that made the conference semifinals last season, seven appear on this yr’s Christmas schedule. The exception is Miami, the No. 1 seed within the East last season, which fell to Boston in seven games within the Eastern Conference finals.
With Memphis now getting a Dec. 25 game, the longest Christmas droughts besides Charlotte’s belong to Sacramento (last Christmas game in 2003), Indiana (2004), Detroit (2005) and Orlando (2011).
Information from The Associated Press was utilized in this report.
