Covid-19 set the NBA back nearly $695 million according to The Athletic. Since then, the NBA has been doing everything possible to make up for that loss. They finished the 2019-2020 season in a “bubble” at Disney World that saved the league nearly $1.5 billion. They added a play-in tournament that brought four extra games to the regular season, and now the NBA has put together one of the most exhilarating Christmas Day Schedules ever.
Knicks vs. Hawks
The first game on Christmas Day will be at 12:00 PM Eastern Standard Time between the New York Knicks and the Atlanta Hawks. The Knicks and Hawks last matched up in the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs. Although the Knicks lost that series 4-1, all 5 games had you on the edge of your seat.
During the series with the Hawks, the Knicks struggled to win the rebounding battle as a team and the secondary struggled to score making it difficult to win close games. The Knicks answered the hitch in the offense by adding Kemba Walker, Even Fournier, Dwayne Bacon, in free agency and drafting Jericho Sims out of Texas university.
The Hawks didn’t make many off-season moves, but the ones they did make are going to have this offense function efficiently even when Trey Young and John Collins are not on the court. Jalen Johnson and Sharif Cooper who I think will be the difference makers in a deep playoff run for the Hawks this upcoming season. The two prospects showed out in the NBA Summer League throwing dimes, blocking shots, and playing some elite defense.
Celtics vs. Bucks
The second game of the evening will be between the Celtics and the Bucks at 2:30 PM Eastern Standard Time. The Celtics faced off against the Bucks on three separate occasions during the 2020-2021 NBA regular season. The Celtics won two out of the three matchups with the Bucks beating them by a total point margin of 365-354.
Obviously, the Bucks are going to be favored over the Celtics after winning the NBA championships last season. Betting odds have favored the Bucks -300 to the Celtics +240.
Since letting Kyrie Irving walk, the Celtics have been all about building from the draft. Jalen Brown, Jason Tatum are prime examples of how the Celtics plan to hang banner number 18. Along with them are Grant Williams, Robert Williams, Romeo Langford and Payton Pritchard who are being integrated into the Celtics offense more and more every year. The Celtics are also one of the sleepers in free agency bringing in veterans like Al Horford, Enes Kanter, and Dennis Schroder.
The Bucks went in a different direction in this year’s free agency. General Manager (GM) John Horst said the goal for the off-season is “to be able to figure out a way to try to keep the group together as best we can.” “We love our guys, I think they love us, we just won a championship together, we’re going to want to try to figure that out. The Bucks were unable to keep Bryan Forbes and PJ Tucker, but replace with them George Hill, Rodney Hood, and Semi Ojeleye.
Warriors vs. Suns
One of the more anticipating matchups will go down at 5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time between the Warriors and the Suns. Now, you may be thinking to yourself, why is this game one of the more exciting games of the day? That’s because this season will be the “Return of the Splash Bros.” Yes, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson will be on the court together for the first time in two years! Klay Thompson initially went down in the 2019 NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors suffering a left knee ACL tear. Then, right before the start of the 2020-2021 season, Thompson suffered a right Achilles tear that sidelined him for the entire season.
Klay Thompson, age 31, two major injuries back to back, will he come back the same? The answer is yes, I personally don’t think this injury will cause Thompson’s game to be any different than before his injury. Especially since Warriors GM, Bob Myers has acquired a multitude of players to compliment Thompson’s game.
Since Thompson last game, the organization has added Andrew Wiggins, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Andre Iguodala drafted James Wiseman, Jordan Poole, Johnathan Kuminga, and Moses Moody
The Phoenix Suns are coming off an NBA finals appearance in which many in the locker feels as if they severely underperformed. CP3 and Cameron Payne resigned with the organization in hopes of being able to make another run the NBA Finals. The team also added some pieces during free agency that will be key to their success.
The teams added three time NBA champion JaVale Mcgee, E’Twaun Moore, Elfrid Payton, and Landry Shamet to the roster; adding height and depth to a roster that was close to the finish line.
Nets vs. Lakers
The most exciting game of the day will definitely be at 8:00 PM Eastern Standard Time between the Brooklyn Nets and the Los Angeles Lakers. The Nets and Lakers were favored last season to represent their respective conferences in the NBA Finals. The two teams came up short due to injuries to key player but are hopping to live up to the hype this season.
Since the addition to James Harden, Nets GM Sean Marks has made block buster move after block buster move. Acquiring players like Blake Griffin, Lamarcus Aldridge and Mike James during the season. During free agency the Nets added Patty Mills, who was one of the most wanted players around the league
The Lakers were active the moment they were knocked out the first round of the playoff, replacing all but four players form the 2020-2021 roster. The first move GM Rob Pelinka made was trading Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harlrell, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for Russell Westbrook along with the 2024 second-round pick, 2028 second-round pick and the 2021 first-round number 22 pick. Palinka continue to build around the team through free agency adding multiple veteran player such as; Kent Bazemore, Trevor Ariza, Wayne Ellington, Dwight Howard, and Carmelo Anthony. They also added some young players to the team such as Malik Monk, kendrick Nunn and they brought back Talen Horton-Tucker; bringing shooting, play making and depth to the roster.
Jazz vs. Mavericks
The last game of the night at 10:00 PM Eastern Standard Time will be between the Dallas maverick and the Utah Jazz. These two team met three time in the regular season where the Jazz won two games to the three games.
The Mavericks were very dull during off season only adding adding Mosses Brown, and Reggie Bullock to the team. Not addressing the problems that they faced during season of only having one play maker in Luka Doncic. The Mavericks are reportedly keeping a close watch on Goran Dragic who may be on the buyout market soon after being traded to the Raptors for Kyle Lowry.
Unlike the Mavs, The Utah Jazz made some surprising moves this off season adding Rudy Gay, Erick Pascal, and Hassan Whitside to a team that already had the potential to win it all. The trio of players will allow the Jazz big three (Donovan Mitchell, Bojan Bogdanovic, and Rudy Gobert) to be well rested to finish games while they along with Jordan Clarkson run the show.
The NBA is doing everything possible to increase revenue to make up for nearly loosing $1 billion in 2020. Showcasing six league MVP award winners, three Defensive Player of the year award winners, 13 All-NBA team selectees, and 11 All-defensive teams selectees to get as many fans as possible in the arenas. Within the past 4 years the league has discussed the possibility of adding a new expansion team or implementing a mid-season tournament. Most of these discussions happened before the pandemic, and I wouldn’t be surprised if these talks have increased since coming back.
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