• NBA on Christmas Day: What you should know
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Periodically, NBA.com writers will comment on important storylines or trending topics around the league.

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1. Which team playing at Christmas would be feeling the happiest now?

Boston Celtics. In the short term, they are at home on the holidays and are the clear favorites against Philadelphia. Long term, Boston is doing well, even though it has lost three of its last…nine. Each loss has been isolated (no streaks), the Celtics are mostly healthy, and their only real rival in the East, Cleveland, has yet to prove it has the staying power that will last into May. — Steve Ashburner

Boston Celtics. The defending champions enter Christmas Day with the best record of the ten teams in action on the holiday and the third-best in the entire NBA. There have been no signs of a championship hangover in Boston, with Kia MVP candidate Jayson Tatum leading the way and Kia Sixth Man candidate Payton Pritchard making this strong Celtics squad even more dangerous. —Brian Martin

Boston Celtics. First and foremost, the defending champions are blessed with good health. Jayson Tatum is playing at an MVP level. And as a bonus, Payton Pritchard is dropping 3-pointers and providing a bigger bench reinforcement than expected. — Shaun Powell

Boston Celtics. The champions know who they are and how to win. They’ve played a relatively easy schedule, there will be some 3-point variability from night to night, and it would be better if more of their 3-point attempts came from paint touches. But they’re healthy, Payton Pritchard has given them a ton of strength off the bench, and no other team has fewer potential weaknesses or a better winning formula on both ends of the court. — John Schuhman

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2. Which team playing on Christmas could use a New Year’s resolution?

The Knicks: Don’t listen to the protocol. Some Knicks fans and media are already wringing their hands over taskmaster Tom Thibodeau putting a lot of strain on the team’s starters. The five-man unit leads the NBA in minutes logged. Thibs doesn’t coach his teams, and the NBA has spent a lot of money figuring out how a stress management game in November can avoid an ankle sprain in February. — Steve Ashburner.

The nuggets: Don’t waste this season on Nikola Jokićwho, alongside Bill Russell and LeBron James, has a chance to become the only players to win four Kia MVPs in five seasons. After losing key rotation players in free agency the last two summers, the Nuggets will need to be buyers at the trade deadline to acquire talent around Jokić and stay in championship contention. —Brian Martin

The Lakers: Make sure LeBron James lives past 40. Especially if he’s going to deliver this level of production. And get him defense help. — Shaun Powell

The Sixers: Resolve to run a little. The offense was a real struggle, even in the few minutes Tyrese Maxey, Paul George and Joel Embiid were on the field. The Sixers have been solid defensively and rank second in opponents’ turnover rate, but rank 28th in the percentage of their possessions (16%) that were in transition. How about turning some of those steals into an early offense? Effective field goal percentage is lowest in the final six seconds of the shot clock, and only Brooklyn has made a higher percentage of its shots in the final six seconds than Philly. — John Schuhman

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3. Which Christmas Day matchup would you like to see as a playoff series?

Wolves vs. Mavs. What’s not to like about a rematch of the 2024 Western Conference Finals? They met a week into this season (Dallas won at Target Center), had that one and another on January 22nd. That’s not enough for a matchup in which the Mavericks had a 5-4 advantage in nine meetings last season, going 4-1 in the playoffs. The star power – Luka Dončić, Anthony Edwards, Kyrie Irving – demands an encore and the hunger to move forward again would be palpable. — Steve Ashburner

Lakers vs Warriors. It’s a nostalgic choice here as we know we don’t have long left to see LeBron James and Stephen Curry face off. They have five playoff series in their history – four of them in the NBA Finals – but there’s still room for one more. — Brian Martin

Sixers vs. Celtics. This could realistically happen assuming Philly clinch one of the final spots in the SoFi Play-In Tournament. A healthy and recharged Joel Embiid, determined to salvage the season, and a better-adjusted Paul George could relive the classic Celtics-Sixers clashes of the past. — Shaun Powell

Sixers vs. Celtics. No two franchises have played more games against each other in the NBA’s 79 seasons (583), and Philly-Boston is pretty compelling in terms of current rosters, too. Joel Embiid (due to his size) and Tyrese Maxey (due to the Boston bigs’ struggles in the pick-and-roll) pose potential problems for the champs, while Paul George is the best defender to line up in front of Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown. Add in some shaky zone defense from Nick Nurse and there will be a lot to chew on, even if the Celtics are a heavy favorite. — John Schuhman

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4. Which two teams would you like to add to next year’s Christmas Day Sleight?

Oklahoma City and Cleveland. The Thunder and Cavaliers (or at least their loved ones) may be grateful not to have to work the holidays this season, but they better enjoy it, because things are likely to change. They’re two of the most exciting, championship-focused teams – full of talent and eager for respect – and there’s no reason why each couldn’t be at the top of their respective conference standings in a year. — Steve Ashburner

Oklahoma City and Cleveland. We don’t have to look far down the rankings to find two teams worthy of the spotlight on Christmas Day. We just have to look at first place in both conferences for teams loaded with young talent ready to compete for titles and have the opportunity to play holiday games. — Brian Martin

Oklahoma City and Orlando. Despite their market size, these organically grown teams represent the next generation of stars. OKC could win a championship next summer. Orlando will be hideous once Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner are healed. — Shaun Powell

Oklahoma City and Orlando. The Thunder – the best team in the West with three young stars and consistent energy – are the easy answer. The Magic have similar attributes and, while currently limited offensively, could be a two-way juggernaut this time next year with the continued development of Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. The former could very well be a future MVP. — John Schuhman

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5. Which team playing on Christmas should start shopping before the February trade deadline?

Denver Nuggets. These guys don’t have enough to survive, let alone thrive, in a long postseason. And no, they haven’t done Nikola Jokić any good in strengthening, let alone improving, the squad around him over the last 18 months. The internal development (Christian Braun, Peyton Watson) is fine, but the Nuggets’ window as title contenders and Jokić’s prime should send Denver’s front office into overdrive. — Steve Ashburner

Golden State Warriors. The Warriors didn’t wait until February but started shopping just before the holiday season by acquiring Dennis Schröder from Brooklyn last week. But just because they started early doesn’t mean the Warriors should be done making deals. The window for championship contention with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green will close at some point, but the right moves in February could keep the window open for a while. — Brian Martin

Los Angeles Lakers. There are plenty of candidates here as the Nuggets, Wolves, Warriors and Suns could use a shakeup. But none are as against the clock as Los Angeles, which has assets to move. Desperate to salvage what could have belonged to LeBron James last year, the Lakers need a third impactful player in the rotation.
— Shaun Powell

New York Knicks. The Knicks have the highest ceiling of the nine teams outside of Boston, but may need another piece on the perimeter (someone taller than 6-foot-10 Miles McBride) to avoid OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart playing 46 minutes a night in the playoffs. The addition of Karl-Anthony Towns worked out as expected and the Knicks should go all-in in 2025. That means they have to do everything they can to prevent their rotation from running out of gas for the second straight postseason. — John Schuhman