Christmas day games have been a staple Christmas tradition of American sports. The NFL and NBA, the leading sports leagues in America, will on December 25th, gift their local and global fans with unmissable thrilling fixtures.
Always with high expectations and financial investments, Christmas Day games, both in the NFL and NBA, will commonly be composed by some of the main and most successful teams and players, on a particular season. And this year is no different.
In the NFL, two games will take place on December 25th: Pittsburgh Steelers vs Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans vs Baltimore Ravens. The reigning champions, Chiefs, will visit the, the impressive and surprise of the 24/25 season, Steelers at Pitsburgh, in what is meant to be a highly disputed and action – packed encounter between the leaders of AFC (American Conference League) West and AFC (American Conference League) North, respectively. On the following match, the Texans who top the AFC South group, will come against the Ravens, who hold the second position in AFC North group. However, both teams own the same 9 – 5, record, suggesting a balanced but electrifying contest. Baltimore will come extra hungry for the win, as they have the opportunity to match, the leader of the group, Steelers, record, if they lose to Kansas, the team with the best record in the Conference, and entire league.
Lobbing to the NBA, the league will feature three star – filled fixtures on Christmas Day. New York Knicks vs San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks vs Minnesota Timberwolves and Boston Celtics vs Philadelphia 76ers. The Knicks, led by their new season acquisition, Karl Anthony Towns and talented Jalen Bruson, will attempt to keep their winning form against the young but experienced Spurs team, led by current rookie of the year, Wembanyama and veteran Chris Paul, who are finding their ways to go up in the Western Conference table.
The Mavericks will come strong with their Big 3 backcourt, as Luka Dončić, Kyrie Irving, and Klay Thompson are a threat to any opponent. On the other side of the court, the Timberwolves, are encountering some difficulties in building team chemistry with their new roster, after trading Towns to the Knicks, for Julius Randle and Donte Divincenzo. The audacious Anthony Edwards will push Minnesota to find the winning ways again against Dallas. Lastly, the current NBA champions, Boston Celtics will face the disappointing, Philadelphia 76ers, who have suffered from injuries of their main players, like Paul George and Joel Embiid, and most recently rookie of the year contender Jared McCain. The Celtics need the win to get closer to the Cleveland Cavaliers, who occupy the first place in the Eastern Conference, and hold the best record in the league (25 – 4). The 76ers desperately search the win to climb up in the table and improve their poor situation in the championship.
For UK fans, The NBA Christmas day games will be available to watch in the NBA website via the League Pass subscription. You can also utilise VPN to stream it in platforms like Disney +, where the will also be streamed.
Now, for the UK NFL fans, there is a new tradition this year. Netflix and NFL partnered up this holiday season to surprise their fans with a novel gift, as the platform will exclusively live stream both games, which will also count with a Super – Ball feel in the festive day of sports. Mariah Carey will kick off Christmas day, performing the classic “All I Want For Christmas Is You” in Texans vs Ravens. In the same game, the pop icon, Beyoncé, will feature the halftime performance, alongside possible surprise guests.
Read the guide below to see the UK times of every Christmas Day game:
NBA:
New York Knicks vs San Antonio Spurs – 17:00.
Dallas Mavericks vs Minnesota Timberwolves – 19:30.
Boston Celtics vs Philadelphia 76ers – 22:00.
NFL:
Pittsburgh Steelers vs Kansas City Chiefs – 18:00.
Houston Texans vs Baltimore Ravens – 21:30.
