Christmas Cheer For Basketball Bettors As NBA Season Begins

For basketball fans it certainly is the most wonderful time of the year: the 2020-21 NBA season is getting underway just in time for Christmas. The season begins on December 22nd with Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors going head to head with former teammate Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets. The reigning champion Los Angeles Lakers are also in action taking on cross-town rival the Clippers.

After that, the annual tradition of the NBA on Christmas Day will continue. There is a full slate of five games beginning with New Orleans and Miami at noon. Action continues until the final game of the day when the Los Angeles Clippers take on Denver at 10:30 p.m. ET.

Giannis Back In Action

Reigning two-time league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo will also be part of the Christmas festivities as his Milwaukee Bucks host Golden State. The Lakers will face young star Luka Doncic and his Dallas Mavericks in Los Angeles.

The new season begins after less than a two month break from the pandemic-affected 2019-20 season. The NBA and its players’ association agreed to a 72-game schedule for the new season. As usual, the season is divided in two with the first half ending on March 4th. However, due to the ongoing public health crisis there will be no All-Star game in 2021.

There will be a mid-season break from March 5-10th but no All-Star game

The timing of the break ensures there will be plenty of time to fit in any games that need rescheduling due to coronavirus concerns. The second half of the season will end in mid-May followed by the playoffs. The postseason will also include a play-in tournament just like last season. In each conference, the 9th and 10th seeds will have an opportunity to qualify for the playoffs.

Tradition

NBA games at Christmas are not something exclusive to this most unusual of years. In fact, it’s a long standing tradition. In 1947, one year after the NBA’s inception, the New York Knicks played the Providence Steamrollers at Madison Square Garden on Christmas Day.

The novelty quickly became a fixture.

The league has featured at least one game on Christmas Day every year since with the exception of 1998. The streak was only broken that season because of the 1998-99 lockout. Long may it continue.