Jalen Williams’ plan for Thursday is mapped out like this: Presents in the morning, then a game in the afternoon.
To him, that sounds like an exceptional Christmas.
Williams and the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder — who felt snubbed by the Christmas schedule makers a year ago — are on the league’s slate of showcase games this year, taking on the San Antonio Spurs as part of the annual Dec. 25 quintuple header.
The schedule, with all times Eastern: Cleveland at New York gets things started at noon, followed by the Spurs at the Thunder at 2:30 p.m., Dallas at Golden State at 5 p.m., Houston at the Los Angeles Lakers at 8 p.m. and Minnesota at Denver at 10:30 p.m.
“As a basketball player, I feel like you grow up — actually, if you’re a sports fan, you grow up watching sports on Christmas. To be able to be a part of it is really cool,” Williams said. “What time do we play, 1:30 (Central)? Yeah, we’re like the cool game. Like, 1:30, presents have already been opened and everybody’s kind of watching the games. I’m really looking forward to that.”
For most of the Thunder, it’ll be a first: The only current Oklahoma City players who have scored in a Christmas game are Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso. And it’ll be the second Christmas game for San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama, whose holiday debut last year was a 42-point, 18-rebound effort against New York.
“It’s a big day for the NBA and the guys are excited to play on that slate of games,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “It’s one of 82 at the end of the day, but it is an elevated circumstance because of the attention on the game and the noise around it. Those are good experiences for any team and certainly for us.”
The Thunder are an NBA-best 26-4 this season — 26-2 against every team but the Spurs, 0-2 against the Spurs. San Antonio beat Oklahoma City 130-110 on Tuesday, after ousting the Thunder in the NBA Cup semifinals earlier this month.
“It’s a big day for the NBA and the guys are excited to play on that slate of games,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “It’s one of 82 at the end of the day, but it is an elevated circumstance because of the attention on the game and the noise around it. Those are good experiences for any team and certainly for us.”
The Thunder are an NBA-best 26-4 this season — 26-2 against every team but the Spurs, 0-2 against the Spurs. San Antonio beat Oklahoma City 130-110 on Tuesday, after ousting the Thunder in the NBA Cup semifinals earlier this month.
More about 3s
While James and Harden are tied atop the 3-pointers made list, some other familiar names could rise with big efforts on Thursday.
Dallas’ Klay Thompson enters the day No. 3 on the list with 27 made 3s on Christmas, one ahead of Golden State’s Stephen Curry and Houston’s Kevin Durant.
Still waiting
The Christmas wait goes on for some teams.
Sacramento hasn’t played on Dec. 25 since 2003, Indiana — which might have gotten the nod this year if Tyrese Haliburton didn’t get hurt in Game 7 of the NBA Finals — hasn’t made the Christmas list since 2004 and Detroit hasn’t since 2005.
To put that into context, it should be noted that Seattle — which hasn’t had a team in nearly two decades — played its last Christmas game in 2007, or more recently than the Kings, Pacers and Pistons have.
Orlando hasn’t played on Christmas since 2011, and Chicago hasn’t since 2016. Meanwhile, Boston’s nine-year streak of Christmas appearances comes to an end this year.
On the other end of the spectrum, the Lakers are playing on Christmas for the 27th consecutive year and Golden State is playing on Christmas for a 13th consecutive season.
“Just excited for another big game on Christmas Day,” Curry said Monday after the Warriors won their second straight to get to 15-15 on the season and go into the holiday with a bit of momentum. “The vibes are good right now.”
Welcome, kid
Dallas’ Cooper Flagg — who turned 19 this week — is set to make his Christmas debut.
If Flagg plays, he’ll be the fourth-youngest player to appear in a Christmas game. Kobe Bryant, Bill Willoughby and James were all 18 in their first Christmas contest.
KD’s Christmas travels
Durant is set to play on Christmas for a fifth different team (and a sixth different jersey), which makes his holiday paths one of the most traveled in league history.
Durant also has played on Christmas for Seattle and Oklahoma City, then Golden State, then Brooklyn, then Phoenix and on Thursday, the Rockets — the team he joined this past summer — get added to the list.
O’Neal (Orlando, Lakers, Miami, Phoenix, Cleveland and Boston) played on Christmas for six teams. Among those who have played on the holiday with five franchises: Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony.
Lots of West
Of the 10 teams playing on Christmas this year, eight come from the Western Conference.
That’s the most from one conference on Christmas since 1978, when the Eastern Conference saw eight of its then-11 teams picked to play on the holiday.
The last time the East had more teams playing on Christmas than the West was 2004. Since then, including this year, the holiday schedule has seen an even East-West split 10 times and the West has seen more teams picked for the holiday slate on 11 occasions.