NBA Christmas Day 2026: Full Schedule, Odds and Early Betting Angles
The NBA released its Christmas Day schedule on August 11, 2026, and it is a five-game slate that runs from noon to past midnight on the East Coast: Spurs at Knicks (12 p.m. ET), Heat at Celtics (2:30 p.m. ET), 76ers at Lakers (5 p.m. ET), Thunder at Timberwolves (8 p.m. ET), and Nuggets at Warriors (10:30 p.m. ET). Every game airs on both ABC and ESPN. No sportsbook has posted point spreads or totals for December 25 yet, but the championship futures market is already open, and it says something striking about this particular lineup: the ten teams playing on Christmas account for exactly 80% of the vig-removed title market.
What Is the NBA Christmas Day 2026 Schedule?
Five games, all on December 25, 2026, all carried on ABC and ESPN simultaneously. The league staggered the tip times so the games run back to back with no overlap, which is the same format it has used in recent years.
| Matchup | Tip (ET) | TV |
|---|---|---|
| San Antonio Spurs at New York Knicks | 12:00 p.m. | ABC / ESPN |
| Miami Heat at Boston Celtics | 2:30 p.m. | ABC / ESPN |
| Philadelphia 76ers at Los Angeles Lakers | 5:00 p.m. | ABC / ESPN |
| Oklahoma City Thunder at Minnesota Timberwolves | 8:00 p.m. | ABC / ESPN |
| Denver Nuggets at Golden State Warriors | 10:30 p.m. | ABC / ESPN |
The league announced the slate alongside its marquee early-season games. You can read the full announcement on NBA.com, which also confirms the broadcast split.
Why This Christmas Slate Is So Top-Heavy
Because the schedule makers put nearly the entire championship picture on one day. We pulled the 2026-27 title market from FanDuel, BetMGM and BetRivers on August 11, 2026, removed the vig across the whole 30-team board, and added up the ten teams playing on December 25. They come to 80.0% of the market. The other 20 franchises share the remaining 20%.
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How we got to 80%
Championship futures carry a large bookmaker margin, so the raw prices on a 30-team board add up to well over 100%. We took the median implied probability per team across the three books, then scaled the entire board back to 100% so the numbers are comparable. That is a market-implied share, not our own forecast, and it will move as the season plays out.
Two of the five games carry most of that weight. Spurs at Knicks combines 30.9% of the board, and Thunder at Timberwolves adds another 26.5%. The noon game and the 8 p.m. game are, by the market’s own math, the two most consequential regular-season matchups the NBA could have scheduled.
Spurs at Knicks (12 p.m. ET): The Finals Rematch
This is a rematch of the 2026 NBA Finals, which the Knicks won in five games for the franchise’s first title since 1973. Jalen Brunson took Finals MVP. San Antonio gets its first crack at New York since Game 5, and it gets it at Madison Square Garden on the biggest regular-season stage the league has.
New York is the most reliable Christmas host in the sport. This will be the Knicks’ 59th Christmas game and their 51st at home on December 25, a tradition that goes back to the league’s first Christmas slate in 1947. Last season they beat Cleveland 126-124 with Brunson scoring 34, roughly six months before he won the Finals.
The two sides last met on Christmas in 2024, when the Knicks won 117-114 and Victor Wembanyama put up 42 points, 18 rebounds, four assists and four blocks in a losing effort. San Antonio spent last Christmas beating Oklahoma City 117-102 behind 29 from De’Aaron Fox.
- Market read: the Spurs (22.7%) are priced meaningfully ahead of the defending champion Knicks (8.2%) in the vig-removed title market.
- Why: books are pricing San Antonio’s ceiling with Wembanyama, and treating New York’s title as a peak the roster has to repeat rather than a baseline.
- Watch for: the Spurs carry a 59.5-win regular-season total, their highest in more than three decades.
Heat at Celtics (2:30 p.m. ET): Giannis in Miami, Tatum Back in Boston
This game exists because of the summer’s biggest trade. Giannis Antetokounmpo is a Miami Heat player, and Boston was one of the teams chasing him before Miami closed the deal. It is Antetokounmpo’s first December 25 game in a Heat uniform and Miami’s first Christmas appearance since 2023.
Miami owns the best Christmas record in the league at 12-2 (.857), and Erik Spoelstra has never lost on the date: he is 9-0 as a head coach on December 25. Antetokounmpo has played six Christmas games, scoring at least 30 in three of them and grabbing at least 12 rebounds in five.
Boston arrives reshaped. Jayson Tatum missed the entire 2025-26 season with a torn Achilles and returns for this one, and the Celtics traded Jaylen Brown to Philadelphia for Paul George over the summer. This is Boston’s 39th Christmas game, third-most of any franchise. The Celtics last played on the date in 2024, losing 118-114 to the 76ers.
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The lightest game on the board
Miami (2.6%) and Boston (5.5%) combine for 8.1% of the title market, the second-smallest total of the five games. The narrative value here is much higher than the championship value, which is worth remembering if you find yourself betting a game because it is fun to watch.
76ers at Lakers (5 p.m. ET): LeBron James Returns to Los Angeles
LeBron James signed with Philadelphia this summer and plays his first Christmas game in a 76ers uniform against the team he spent eight seasons with. He already holds the record for Christmas games played at 20, so this appearance makes 21, and he has played on December 25 in 19 consecutive seasons.
His Christmas record book is worth laying out, because several marks are live on this date:
- Points: 525, first all-time
- Field goals made: 187, first all-time
- Steals: 30, tied for first
- Assists: 142, second, three behind Oscar Robertson’s 145
- Three-pointers: 32, second, three behind Cleveland’s James Harden
- Wins: 11, more than any player
The Philadelphia roster around him is loaded on paper: Joel Embiid, the 2022-23 MVP, plus Tyrese Maxey and Jaylen Brown, who arrived from Boston. Los Angeles counters with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. Doncic is the only active player to score 50 in a Christmas game, which he did for Dallas against Phoenix in 2023, joining Bernard King (60 in 1984), Wilt Chamberlain (59 in 1961) and Rick Barry (50 in 1966) as the only players ever to do it.
The market has not treated these two teams the same way. Philadelphia sits at 8.2% of the title board after the LeBron signing shortened its price sharply. The Lakers sit at 1.8% with a 46.5-win regular-season total. That is a wide gap for a game the schedule makers gave the marquee slot.
Thunder at Timberwolves (8 p.m. ET): The Heavyweight Rematch
Oklahoma City and Minnesota met in the 2025 Western Conference Finals, which the Thunder won, and they meet again in the prime-time Christmas window. This is the second-heaviest game on the board at 26.5% of the title market, driven almost entirely by Oklahoma City’s 23.4% share.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a two-time MVP and made his Christmas debut only last season, when he scored 22 with six rebounds and four assists in the loss to San Antonio. Oklahoma City carries the league’s highest win total at 60.5.
Minnesota plays on Christmas for the third straight year and the fifth time in franchise history. Anthony Edwards scored 44 in last season’s overtime loss to Denver on the date, and new guard LaMelo Ball, acquired from Charlotte this summer, is set to make his Christmas debut.
Nuggets at Warriors (10:30 p.m. ET): Jokic and Curry Close the Night
The nightcap is the lightest game on the title board at 4.5% combined, and it is also the one with the best recent Christmas box scores. Nikola Jokic has three triple-doubles in six Christmas games, including a 56-point, 16-rebound, 15-assist night last season. He is one of three players ever to post 40 points, 15 rebounds and 15 assists on Christmas, and he has done it twice.
Jamal Murray set the Christmas record for three-pointers in a game last season with nine. Golden State brings its own streak: this is the Warriors’ 16th Christmas game in 17 seasons and their 14th in a row. Steph Curry scored 23 on the date last season after a 38-point performance in a 115-113 loss to the Lakers in 2024, and he is tied for third all-time in Christmas threes with former teammate Klay Thompson at 28.
Denver (3.2%) and Golden State (1.3%) are both priced as long shots for 2026-27. Neither is a championship centerpiece on this board, which makes this a viewing game more than a futures game.
What Are the Championship Odds for the Christmas Day Teams?
Oklahoma City and San Antonio are the co-favorites, with Philadelphia and New York next. Below are the title prices for all ten Christmas teams at three regulated books as of August 11, 2026, alongside the vig-removed share of the board.
| Team | FanDuel | BetMGM | BetRivers | Market share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oklahoma City Thunder | +230 | +260 | +250 | 23.4% |
| San Antonio Spurs | +270 | +260 | +250 | 22.7% |
| Philadelphia 76ers | +1000 | +850 | +900 | 8.2% |
| New York Knicks | +950 | +900 | +900 | 8.2% |
| Boston Celtics | +1400 | +1300 | +1400 | 5.5% |
| Denver Nuggets | +2500 | +2500 | +2500 | 3.2% |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | +2700 | +2500 | +2500 | 3.2% |
| Miami Heat | +4000 | +3000 | +3000 | 2.6% |
| Los Angeles Lakers | +4500 | +5000 | +4000 | 1.8% |
| Golden State Warriors | +5000 | +6600 | +6000 | 1.3% |
Prices vary by book, and the spread on Miami is the widest on the slate: FanDuel has the Heat at +4000 while BetMGM and BetRivers both sit at +3000. That is a real difference on a futures ticket, and it is the ordinary argument for holding accounts at more than one book. Odds move constantly between August and tip-off, so treat every number here as a snapshot taken on August 11, 2026. If futures are new to you, our guide to futures betting covers how these markets price and settle.
When Will Christmas Day Betting Lines Be Released?
Point spreads, moneylines and totals for these five games are not available yet, and they will not be for months. Sportsbooks typically post sides and totals for a regular-season NBA game in the days before it is played, not in August. We checked the live market on August 11, 2026: there are zero NBA game-level markets open, and the championship futures in the table above are the only NBA prices posted.
A handful of things will shape those numbers once they do appear:
- The rest of the schedule. The full 2026-27 calendar is not out. Whether a team plays a back-to-back into December 25, and how far it has to travel, moves a spread more than most casual bettors expect.
- Health. Tatum’s first season back from an Achilles tear, Embiid’s availability and how Philadelphia manages James’s minutes at 41 are all unresolved in August.
- Fit. Four of these ten teams added a star this summer. Books will have 30 games of real evidence about Giannis in Miami and LeBron in Philadelphia before they price this slate.
- Standings context. A Christmas game between two teams fighting for a top seed prices differently than one where a team has already faded.
We will post spreads, totals and our picks for all five games closer to the date. In the meantime, our daily NBA picks run through the season, and our NBA betting sites page compares where to shop these lines.
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Frequently Asked Questions
The questions we get most about the Christmas slate, answered with what is actually known in August.
Who plays on Christmas Day 2026 in the NBA?
Five games: Spurs at Knicks (12 p.m. ET), Heat at Celtics (2:30 p.m. ET), 76ers at Lakers (5 p.m. ET), Thunder at Timberwolves (8 p.m. ET) and Nuggets at Warriors (10:30 p.m. ET). The NBA announced the slate on August 11, 2026. All five games air on both ABC and ESPN, staggered so no two overlap.
Can I bet on the NBA Christmas Day games yet?
Not on the games themselves. As of August 11, 2026 there are no point spreads, moneylines or totals posted for December 25, because sportsbooks generally price regular-season NBA games only in the days beforehand. What is open right now is the futures market, including 2026-27 championship odds and regular-season win totals, and those cover every team on the Christmas slate.
Which Christmas Day game matters most in the title race?
Spurs at Knicks in the noon window. The two teams combine for 30.9% of the vig-removed championship market, the highest of the five games, and it is a rematch of the 2026 NBA Finals that New York won in five games. Thunder at Timberwolves is close behind at 26.5%, almost all of it Oklahoma City.
Why is LeBron James playing against the Lakers on Christmas?
He signed with the Philadelphia 76ers this offseason after eight seasons in Los Angeles, so the 5 p.m. game is his return to face his former team. It will be his 21st career Christmas game, which extends his own record, and he already leads all players in Christmas points (525), field goals made (187) and wins (11).
Are the defending champion Knicks the Christmas favorite to win it all?
No. New York won the 2026 title but sits fourth on the current board at roughly +900 to +950, tied in implied terms with Philadelphia at about 8.2% of the market. Oklahoma City and San Antonio are the co-favorites near +250, each holding close to 23%. Books are pricing the Knicks as a team that has to repeat rather than as the default pick.
