Merry Christmas, NBA fans, after two months of season lost to lockout we are finally going to get a full slate of regular season games on the TV schedule. Casual fans often don't start paying attention to the NBA until Christmas Day anyway, and thanks to the miracle of a compressed schedule those two full months translated into just 16 fewer games on the 2011-12 NBA schedule.
↵Here's the five games Santa Stern has delivered for the Christmas Day TV schedule:
↵Boston Celtics at New York Knicks at 12:00 p.m. ET / 10:00 am MT on TNT. The Knicks and Celtics bring the tradition for the holiday but this year will continue the transition with the older team in the decline and the Big Apple bringing the stars back to Broadway. This game features six All-Star and NBA Champion Tyson Chandler.
↵Miami Heat at Dallas Mavericks at 2:30 p.m ET / 12:30 p.m. MT on ABC. A rematch of the 2011 NBA Finals features the first opportunity for LeBron James to show is newly found maturity against the team that represents his most recent playoff failure. The Mavericks still have Dirk Nowitzki but most feel they took a step back in the offseason with the loss of Chandler, Caron Butler and J.J. Barea.
↵Chicago Bulls at Los Angeles Lakers at 5:00 p.m. ET / 3:00 p.m. MT on ABC. The Bulls are a team headed in the right direction with their young star Derrick Rose leading the way. The Lakers have an injured Kobe Bryant and have lost Lamar Odom to the Mavericks and will be without Andrew Bynum (suspension).
↵Orlando Magic at Oklahoma City Thunder at 8:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. MT on ESPN. Who said small markets don't get the big stage? When you have stars like Kevin Durant and Russel Westbrook people will watch regardless of what dust bowl you play in. Oh, and Dwight Howard will be playing as well. Fun stuff.
↵Los Angeles Clippers at Golden State Warriors at 10:30 p.m. ET / 8:30 p.m. MT on ESPN. If you are still awake, sober and coherent at this point in the day you will be treated to the first live action featuring the Chris Paul and Blake Griffin show. If you can't stay up for this game, at least record it.
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