Trending topics: 5 key questions ahead of NBA’s Christmas Day games

On By Littum

Stephen Curry and LeBron James will renew their rivalry on Christmas Day.

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Periodically, NBA.com’s writers will weigh in on key stories or trending topics around the league.

1. Which team playing at Christmas should feel the most merry right now?

Boston Celtics. In the short term, they are home for the holidays and are heavy favorites against Philadelphia. In the long run, Boston is humming along, even in dropping three of its last … nine. Every loss has been isolated (no streaks), the Celtics are largely healthy, and their only real competition in the East, Cleveland, has yet to prove they have stamina that will last into May. — Steve Aschburner

Boston Celtics. The defending champions enter Christmas Day with the best record of the 10 teams in action on the holiday and 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 deep Celtics team even more dangerous. – Brian Martin

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

Boston Celtics. The champions know who they are and how to win. They’ve played a relatively easy program that’s going to be some 3-point variation from night to night, and it would be better if more of their 3-point attempts were generated from the paint. But they’re healthy, Payton Pritchard has given them a ton of juice off the bench, and no other team has fewer potential weaknesses or a better formula for success on both ends of the floor. — John Schuhmann

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

The Knicks: Don’t listen to the minutes. Some Knicks fans and media are already wringing their hands over taskmaster Tom Thibodeau’s heavy use of the team’s starters. The five-man unit leads the NBA in minutes recorded. Thibs doesn’t grind his teams in practice, and the NBA has spent bundles trying to figure out how a load management play in November avoids a sprained ankle in February. — Steve Aschburner.

Nuggets: Don’t waste this season from Nikola Jokićwho has a chance to join Bill Russell and LeBron James as the only players to win four Kia MVPs over five seasons. After losing key rotation players in free agency the past two summers, the Nuggets need to be buyers at the trade deadline to add talent around Jokić and stay in championship contention. – Brian Martin

Lakers: Keep LeBron James going after 40 years. Especially if he’s going to provide this level of production. And get him some defensive help. — Shaun Powell

The Sixers: Decide to run a little. The offense has been a real struggle, even in the limited minutes Tyrese Maxey, Paul George and Joel Embiid have been on the floor. The Sixers have been solid defensively and rank second in opponent turnover rate, but are 28th in the percentage of their possessions (16%) that have been in transition. How about turning some of those steals into early strikes? Effective field goal percentage is lowest in the last six seconds of the shot clock, and only Brooklyn has taken a higher percentage of its shots in the last six seconds than Philly. — John Schuhmann

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

Wolves vs. Mavs. What’s not to like about a rematch of the 2024 Western Conference Finals? They met one week into this season (Dallas won at Target Center), have this one, then one more on Jan. 22. It’s not enough for a matchup where the Mavericks held a 5-4 edge in nine meetings last season, including 4-1 in the playoffs. The star power — Luka Dončić, Anthony Edwards, Kyrie Irving — demands an encore, and the hunger to advance would be palpable. — Steve Aschburner

Lakers vs. Warriors. It’s a nostalgia pick here, knowing we don’t have much longer to see LeBron James and Stephen Curry face off. They have five playoff series in their history – four coming in the NBA Finals – but there is still room for one more. — Brian Martin

Sixers vs. Celtics. This could realistically happen, assuming Philly grabs one of the last few SoFi Play-In tournament spots. A healthy and recharged Joel Embiid, determined to salvage the season, plus a better-adjusted Paul George could reignite the classic Celtics-Sixers matchups of the past. — Shaun Powell

Sixers vs. Celtics. No two franchises have played more games against each other (583) in the NBA’s 79 seasons, and Philly-Boston is also pretty compelling in terms of current rosters. Joel Embiid (because of his size) and Tyrese Maxey (because of Boston’s big problems in the pick-and-roll) provide potential matchup problems for the champs, while Paul George is about as good a defender as you can put in front of Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown. Throw in some janky zone defense from Nick Nurse and there will be plenty to chew on, even if the Celtics are a heavy favorite. — John Schuhmann

4. Which two teams would you like to see added to next year’s Christmas Day “sleigh?”

Oklahoma City and Cleveland. The Thunder and Cavaliers (or at least their loved ones) might feel grateful not to be working on the holidays this season, but they’d better enjoy it, because that’s likely to change. They’re two of the most exciting and championship-focused teams — loaded with talent and eager for respect — and there’s no reason they can’t each be atop their respective conference standings a year from now. — Steve Aschburner

Oklahoma City and Cleveland. We don’t have to look far down the standings to find two teams worthy of the Christmas Day spotlight. We need only look at no. 1st place in both conferences for teams full of young talent ready to compete for titles and the opportunity to play holiday rings. — Brian Martin

Oklahoma City and Orlando. These organically grown teams represent the next generation of stars despite their market size. OKC can win a championship next summer. Orlando will be expensive once Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner heal. — Shaun Powell

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

5. Which team playing at Christmas should start trading before February’s trade deadline?

Denver Nuggets. These guys don’t have enough to survive, let alone thrive, in a long postseason run. And no, they haven’t done right by Nikola Jokić over the last 18 months in supporting, never mind improving, the guard around him. Internal development (Christian Braun, Peyton Watson) is fine, but the Nuggets’ window as a title contender and Jokić’s best should have the Denver front office on a high ticking clock. — Steve Aschburner

Golden State Warriors. The Warriors didn’t wait until February, they started shopping near Christmas with the acquisition of Dennis Schröder from Brooklyn last week. But just because they started early doesn’t mean the Warriors have to be done making deals. The championship-contending window with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green is closing eventually, but the right moves in February could keep the window tight for a while longer. — Brian Martin

Los Angeles Lakers. There are many candidates here, as the Nuggets, Wolves, Warriors and Suns could use a shakeup. But none is counter-clockwise like Los Angeles, which has assets to move. The Lakers are desperate to salvage what could be LeBron James’ last year and need a third impact player in the rotation.
— Shaun Powell

New York Knicks. The Knicks have the highest cap of the nine teams outside of Boston, but may need another piece on the perimeter (someone bigger than 6-foot-1 Miles McBride) to keep OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart from playing 46 minutes at night in the playoffs. Karl-Anthony Towns’ addition has worked out as well as can be expected, and the Knicks should go all-in in 2025. That means they’re doing everything they can to keep their rotation from running out of gas in another consecutive postseason. — John Schuhmann