On Thursday night, Shams Charania of The Athletic released the NBA’s Christmas Day schedule, and the Boston Celtics will be hosting the new-look Philadelphia 76ers for their game. It will mark their ninth-straight Christmas Dady game dating back to 2016.
Boston will be sporting the same roster they won a championship with this past season, but the Sixers will be bringing in some reinforcements. They signed Paul George this summer and brought in the likes of Caleb Martin, Andre Drummond, and Eric Gordon.
The two squads have been rivals for decades, though Boston has dominated the matchup in recent years. Philadelphia hasn’t beaten Boston in a playoff series since 1982.
Regardless, it’s always fun when the two teams meet head-to-head, but this year’s Christmas game has the potential to go one of two ways: A complete disaster or the Game of the Year.
Celtics playing 76ers on Christmas Day will be a disaster or the Game of the Year
Too often, injuries get in the way of things. Kristaps Porzingis is set to miss the first half of the season. On top of that, Paul George has an injury history, and Joel Embiid has one worse than his new teammate.
Add in the potential that Al Horford could sit out or other guys could get hurt, and this game could turn into nothing really fast. But if everything goes according to plan, it has the potential to be one of the best games of the regular season.
Let’s say Embiid and George are healthy, and that’s very possible, as the Sixers could attempt to save them both for such a big night. That would be step one.
But what would really take this game over the top is if Porzingis returned for it. It’s right around the timeline that he could be returning from his injury, and bringing him back for a prime-time contest would be a very fun idea for Boston.
If both of those things end up coming true, it would turn what will already be one of the most-watched games of the regular-season calendar into an absolute must-watch for any NBA fan.
There is still a very long wait ahead until the Celtics and 76ers square off on Christmas Day, but the thought of the contest being such a highly-touted affair should get fans very excited.
