There may be no better day for a specific sport than Christmas is for basketball. He NBA gives us more than 12 hours of basketball from a carefully selected group of the most interesting teams in the league. Pick the games you are most excited to see leading up to the season and chances are that game will be played on Christmas.
Structurally speaking, Christmas is a perfect day for basketball betting. Only one game is played at a time. With no overlays, you can reset after each game, adjust your units, reconsider lines, and dive back in when the opportunity presents itself. So let’s look back at Wednesday’s five games and pick the best bets for each to preview the NBA’s Christmas extravaganza.
Where to watch NBA Christmas Day games
All Wednesday games will be broadcast on ABC and broadcast on fubo (Try it for free).
- Knicks 117, Spurs 114 (Grades)
- Timberwolves 105, Mavericks 99 (degrees)
- 76ers 118, Celtics 114 (Grades)
- Lakers 115, Warriors 113 (Ratings)
- Suns vs. Nuggets, 10:30 p.m. ET, ABC/fubo
- Betting line: Knicks -9; Out of/U 223.5
The name of the game against Victor Wembanyama is space. The Knicks will want to keep him as far from the basket as possible to create reasonable driving lanes for their ball handlers, and the easiest way to do that is to make sure their center is shooting 3-pointers. San Antonio could counter by putting Wembanyama on Josh Hart, the Knicks’ weakest shooter, so he can serve as a helper, but Hart is hitting 40% of his 3-pointers this season and giving Karl-Anthony Towns a mismatch when plays as well as looks like a failure. So let’s hope Wembanyama defends Towns, and the Knicks intend to have Towns shoot 3-pointers to keep him the Defensive Player of the Year favorite away from the basket. The choice: cities over 2.5 3 seconds
- Betting line: Mavericks -5.5; Out/U 221.5
We saw this matchup in the playoffs a season ago, and Dallas won it handily, but more pertinently, the Timberwolves are a mess right now. They miss the spacing that Towns brought. The decline of Mike Conley and the introduction of Julius Randle have eliminated much of the offensive structure. The defense has gone from being impenetrable to being good. I just can’t reasonably pick a team that plays so chaotically to win on the road against a Dallas team that has come together wonderfully over the past few weeks. The Mavericks are 8-2 in their last 10. Luka Doncic is ready to push his MVP. These are just two teams moving in different directions. The choice: Mavericks -5.5
- Betting line: Celts -10; Out/U 222
Derrick White loves playing against the Sixers. He averaged over 18 points per game against them last season and 16 points per game against them the year before, and keep in mind that his overall scoring wasn’t as high as it is now. Philadelphia’s slow front line and terrible defense at the point of attack simply bring out the best in White. Expect him to be aggressive in a game the Celtics should control. The choice: white with more than 14.5 points
- Betting line: Warriors -4; Out/U 225.5
Hey, speaking of messes, the Warriors are 3-10 in their last 13 games. They are still working with Dennis Schroder in the fold, and the Lakers obviously know Schroder quite well. The Lakers are by no means perfect, but they have quietly adjusted some things lately. Their once abhorrent defense ranks second in the NBA over their last six games, which isn’t a significant showing, but at least the effort and energy has improved. This is the fourth time LeBron James and Stephen Curry have met on Christmas, and although Curry’s team was a favorite in all three, James won two of them outright. The games between them tend to be reasonably close, so even if the Warriors win, I like to have those extra points in my back pocket in case it all goes down to the wire. The choice: Lakers +4
- Betting line: pips -3; Out of/U 233.5
Yes, on paper, this should be a shootout. But these two teams just played on Monday in a game that produced 207 total points. Jamal Murray, Devin Booker, Bradley Beal and Grayson Allen all missed the game and it’s unclear who will be available for the game. The Suns rank 23rd in pace. The Nuggets make the fewest three-pointers in the NBA. There are too many reasons why this game could be low-scoring to get over it. The choice: less than 233.5
