We took every game in Wikipedia's record of NBA Christmas games, checked the 114 played since 1996 against NBA.com's official team game logs and matched each season to its NBA Finals. Teams count as franchises under their current names, so the Minneapolis Lakers are the Lakers and the Seattle SuperSonics the Oklahoma City Thunder. The 13 ABA games in Wikipedia's table are left out.
NBA Christmas Day games history: one missed year since 1947
The first NBA Christmas came in the league's second season, when it was still the Basketball Association of America: three games on December 25, 1947, including the Knicks' 89-75 win over the Providence Steamrollers. Since then the slate has ranged from one game, in 1989, 1990 and 2006, to seven, in 1949, 1971 and 1977. It has been five games every year since 2008, so 10 of the 30 teams play on Christmas.
Only one Christmas has gone without the NBA: 1998, when a lockout pushed the start of the 1998-99 season back to February 5, 1999. The 2011 lockout ended in time for the shortened 2011-12 season to open on Christmas Day, and in 2020 the season delayed by the pandemic began on December 22, so both years kept their five games.
Which NBA teams have played the most Christmas Day games
The Knicks lead with 58 games, and their 26 wins and 32 losses are both the most. They have also been the most frequent host: 50 of the 58 were at home, where they are 25-25, against 1-7 on the road. From 1950 to 1987 they played on 38 straight Christmases, the longest run of any team. The Los Angeles Lakers, second with 52 games, have the longest current run, 27 in a row since 1999.
| Team | Games | Record | Win % | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Knicks | 58 | 26-32 | 44.8% | 25-25 | 1-7 |
| Los Angeles Lakers | 52 | 25-27 | 48.1% | 14-15 | 11-12 |
| Boston Celtics | 38 | 17-21 | 44.7% | 3-4 | 14-17 |
| Philadelphia 76ers | 35 | 20-15 | 57.1% | 9-4 | 11-11 |
| Golden State Warriors | 35 | 16-19 | 45.7% | 11-6 | 5-13 |
| Detroit Pistons | 32 | 10-22 | 31.3% | 6-3 | 4-19 |
| Sacramento Kings | 29 | 18-11 | 62.1% | 15-9 | 3-2 |
| Washington Wizards | 23 | 16-7 | 69.6% | 10-5 | 6-2 |
| Phoenix Suns | 22 | 13-9 | 59.1% | 12-7 | 1-2 |
| Chicago Bulls | 21 | 13-8 | 61.9% | 8-1 | 5-7 |
| Atlanta Hawks | 21 | 9-12 | 42.9% | 4-2 | 5-10 |
| Oklahoma City Thunder | 21 | 6-15 | 28.6% | 4-4 | 2-11 |
Among the 21 teams with at least 10 Christmas games, the Miami Heat have the best record, 12-2, with all seven home games won, followed by the Portland Trail Blazers at 14-4. The Thunder franchise is 6-15 and the Detroit Pistons 10-22, including 4-19 on the road. The Boston Celtics have played 38 Christmas games but hosted only seven.
The Charlotte Hornets are the only one of the 30 franchises that has never played on Christmas. The Memphis Grizzlies played their first in 2022, and the Toronto Raptors hosted the only Christmas game outside the United States, a 118-102 loss to the Celtics in 2019.
Home-court advantage on Christmas Day
Home teams have won 179 of the 287 Christmas games, 62.4 percent. The edge was bigger before 2000:
- 1947 to 1959: 35-19, 64.8 percent
- 1960 to 1979: 53-28, 65.4 percent
- 1980 to 1999: 29-15, 65.9 percent
- 2000 to 2025: 62-46, 57.4 percent
Since 1996-97, Christmas hosts are 67-47, 58.8 percent, almost exactly the 58.7 percent that home teams won across all regular-season games in those 30 seasons, as our study of NBA home-court advantage found. Christmas brings no extra home edge.
Scoring and margins on Christmas vs. the regular season
Christmas games pair good teams. The 228 Christmas appearances since 1996-97 came from teams that finished with an average winning percentage of .593; 184 had winning records and 185 made the playoffs. The scores, though, look like any other night:
| Measure | Christmas Day | Full season |
|---|---|---|
| Points per team | 103.7 | 104.2 |
| Average winning margin | 10.8 | 11.4 |
| Decided by 3 points or fewer | 8.8% | 15.1% |
| Decided by 20 points or more | 12.3% | 15.8% |
| Went to overtime | 5.3% | 5.8% |
Points per team and winning margins were within a point of the season figures; across all 30 seasons the average game was decided by 11.2 points, as our study of NBA blowouts found. Christmas had fewer tight finishes: 10 of 114 games were decided by three points or fewer, seven fewer than the season rate predicts, though over so few games the gap could be chance.
On paper the matchups were closer than usual. The two teams' season point differentials were 4.4 points apart on average, against 5.5 in all games, and the team with the better differential won 62.3 percent of Christmas games, against 67.5 percent of all games. The highest-scoring Christmas game is the Denver Nuggets' 142-138 overtime win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2025; the most lopsided, the Syracuse Nationals' 162-100 win over the Knicks in 1960.
How often Christmas teams reach and win the NBA Finals
In 47 of the 78 seasons with Christmas games, the eventual champion played on December 25, and since the move to five games in 2008 it has happened in 15 of 18. The exceptions were the 2010-11 Dallas Mavericks, the 2018-19 Toronto Raptors and the 2024-25 Thunder.
Both finalists played on Christmas in 11 of those 18 seasons, including 2025-26: the Knicks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 126-124 at home, and the San Antonio Spurs won 117-102 at Oklahoma City, the defending champion. Since 2008, 28 of the 180 Christmas appearances were by a team that reached that season's Finals, 15.6 percent, more than twice the 6.7 percent chance of a random team in a 30-team league.
Eventual champions are 34-13 in their Christmas games since 1947 and 9-6 since 2008. The defending champion has played on every Christmas since 2008, hosting 16 of the 18 games, and gone 9-9; how often champions repeat is covered in our study of defending champions. Only three Christmas games have matched that season's two finalists: the Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
NBA Finals rematches on Christmas Day
Nine Christmas games have brought back the previous season's finalists, all since the Orlando Magic beat the defending champion Houston Rockets 92-90 in 1995. The home team won eight of the nine, and the defending champion went 5-4:
| Christmas | Game | Result | Defending champion |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Rockets at Magic | Magic 92-90 | Rockets (lost) |
| 2001 | 76ers at Lakers | Lakers 88-82 | Lakers (won) |
| 2005 | Spurs at Pistons | Pistons 85-70 | Spurs (lost) |
| 2008 | Celtics at Lakers | Lakers 92-83 | Celtics (lost) |
| 2011 | Heat at Mavericks | Heat 105-94 | Mavericks (lost) |
| 2012 | Thunder at Heat | Heat 103-97 | Heat (won) |
| 2015 | Cavaliers at Warriors | Warriors 89-83 | Warriors (won) |
| 2016 | Warriors at Cavaliers | Cavaliers 109-108 | Cavaliers (won) |
| 2017 | Cavaliers at Warriors | Warriors 99-92 | Warriors (won) |
The first game of Christmas 2026 will be the 10th: the Knicks host the Spurs, the team they beat 4-1 in the 2026 Finals.
NBA Christmas Day schedule for 2026
The 2026-27 season began on Tuesday, October 20, and the NBA's schedule has five games on Friday, December 25, the 19th straight year with five:
| Time (ET) | Game | Arena |
|---|---|---|
| Noon | San Antonio Spurs at New York Knicks | Madison Square Garden |
| 2:30 p.m. | Miami Heat at Boston Celtics | TD Garden |
| 5 p.m. | Philadelphia 76ers at Los Angeles Lakers | Crypto.com Arena |
| 8 p.m. | Oklahoma City Thunder at Minnesota Timberwolves | Target Center |
| 10:30 p.m. | Denver Nuggets at Golden State Warriors | Chase Center |
It will be the Knicks' 59th Christmas game and their 51st at home, and the Lakers' 28th Christmas in a row, with LeBron James returning to Los Angeles with the Philadelphia 76ers. The Timberwolves, 2-2 in four Christmas games, all on the road, will host for the first time, and the Heat take their 12-2 record to Boston, where the Celtics are 3-4 on the holiday.
Through Nov. 2 the records of the Christmas teams were the Spurs (5-2) at the Knicks (3-4), the Heat (2-5) at the Celtics (5-2), the 76ers (7-1) at the Lakers (6-2), the Thunder (5-2) at the Timberwolves (5-3) and the Nuggets (3-3) at the Warriors (5-3). Every game is on the 2026-27 NBA schedule, and the Vertize NBA simulator lets you play out the season from there.
NBA Christmas Day games: frequently asked questions
Which NBA team has played the most Christmas Day games? The New York Knicks, 58 from 1947 to 2025, with a 26-32 record. The Los Angeles Lakers are second with 52.
Has the NBA ever skipped Christmas? Once since 1947: in 1998, when the lockout delayed the 1998-99 season until February 5, 1999.
Which NBA team has never played on Christmas? The Charlotte Hornets, the only current franchise without a Christmas game, and they are not on the 2026 schedule either.
What are the NBA Christmas Day games in 2026? Spurs at Knicks at noon ET, Heat at Celtics at 2:30 p.m., 76ers at Lakers at 5 p.m., Thunder at Timberwolves at 8 p.m. and Nuggets at Warriors at 10:30 p.m., all on ABC and ESPN.
How this was built: every NBA game played on December 25 from 1947 to 2025, 287 in all, from Wikipedia's table, ABA games excluded. All 114 games since 1996 match NBA.com's team game logs on teams, home side and score; for the one overtime the two sources disagree on, in 2002, we use NBA.com. One winner marked against its own score (Seattle at Phoenix, 1971) was checked against both teams' season pages. Win-loss records are by franchise under current names and match Wikipedia's own Christmas standings for all 29 teams. Finals from Wikipedia's list of champions, checked against NBA.com playoff logs since 1984; season comparisons from NBA.com's regular-season logs, 1996-97 to 2025-26. The 2026 schedule is from NBA Communications, as of October 19, 2026.