The NBA hasn’t unveiled its Christmas Day slate yet, but the predictions are already rolling in - and one of the more interesting ideas has the Cavaliers and Pistons kicking things off at noon ET.
That projection comes from Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing, who recently mapped out what he thinks the league’s five-game holiday lineup will look like. In his version, Cleveland and Detroit open the day, a matchup that makes sense on paper because the two teams have turned into one of the East’s better rivalries after last season’s playoffs. Cleveland beat top-seeded Detroit on the way to the conference finals, and Yoder pointed out that the game would also give the Pistons a Christmas showcase they haven’t had since 2005.
Yoder’s predicted slate doesn’t stop there. He has Celtics vs.
Heat, Knicks vs. 76ers, Thunder vs. Spurs and Lakers vs.
Warriors filling out the rest of the day.
In his view, the biggest spotlight would fall on defending champion New York taking on LeBron James and the revamped 76ers in the late-afternoon window. He also expects the NBA to lean on one of its safest TV draws by putting the Lakers and Warriors in the nightcap, while Oklahoma City and San Antonio would continue a Western Conference matchup that has quickly become one of the league’s most compelling.
None of it is official yet, and the league could still shuffle things around before the schedule drops. But if Yoder is even close, Christmas Day is shaping up to be a loaded one.
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