It certainly doesn't take a basketball savant to figure out what the NBA's main event will be on Christmas Day. The league typically uses the holiday to showcase its top teams (or juiciest story lines) to the masses, so the report out of Cleveland that Shaquille O'Neal, LeBron James and the Cavaliers will face Kobe Bryant and the defending champion Lakers in the afternoon game should come as no surprise. Last season, though, there were a whopping five games on the holiday slate. And since the remainder of the schedule isn't expected to be out until sometime in early August, here's a look at some contenders for the remaining four spots.
Magic vs. Celtics: If Kevin Garnett is somewhat back to his old self, this is a good opportunity to see what a full-strength Celtics team looks like against a revamped Magic team that made it to the Finals. Besides, you can't go wrong with two of the top three projected teams in the East going head-to-head, and (as Matt Moore reminded me) getting to see the replay of Glen Davis hitting that game-winner and decking that kid over and over again would be priceless.
Spurs vs. Mavericks: Great playoff history here, and two teams in the West that made a lot of off-season moves to get back to contending for the top spot in the conference. Let's see which one has the early advantage.
Nuggets vs. Blazers: The Nuggets went to the Conference Finals, and many believe that the Blazers are going to be the next big thing. If they're truly a team on the rise, Portland is going to have to beat the proven contenders. Denver is a good place to start.
Miami-Atlanta: An NBA Christmas without Dwyane Wade would feel like I got a huge lump of coal in my stocking. This game would be a rematch of possibly the most boring seven-game playoff series ever, but the possibility for even the smallest amount of revenge usually revenge usually seems to intrigue the NBA scheduling overlords.
Suns-Warriors: We all know that neither one of these teams is going to the Finals, unless they buy a block of tickets from the Staples Center box office. But hey, who doesn't like scoring? The over/under for this one should be around 245, and casual fans will surely tune in to see the madness.
Are there any other match-ups that might be more interesting, or are there any other teams you'd like to see? Go ahead and sound off in the comments.
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