The NBA has just announced that the LeBron James led Cleveland Cavaliers will take their talents to Oakland to face off against the Kevin Durant led Golden State Warriors on Xmas day. This will be the third straight year (2015, 2016, 2017) that the two powerhouse teams will face on Xmas day, making it into a Christmas day rivalry.
This has become a very familiar thing for LeBron James as he faced off against Kevin Durant on December 25th in two straight years (2012 and 2013), and now again (2016 and 2017). The two seem to have a fierce rivalry on this occasion, and it will continue this year.
The Xmas day line-up
The Christmas Day schedule is always looking tasty and exciting, and this year is definitely no different. The first matchup will be between the Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks at 12 pm EST, at the Madison Square Garden. The Sixers will break a 16-year drought of missing out on the Xmas day games, and a lot of it to do with the young and intriguing talent they have at their helm. The next game will be the one everybody will be waiting for, and that will be the matchup between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors at 3 pm EST. It’s safe to say this is a rivalry, playing each other 24 times from 2014 till 2017, that includes postseason. It’s hard to know whether the Cavaliers big three will be intact at that moment with all the Kyrie trade talk, but one thing we do know, LeBron will be there, and it should be fun.
This will be followed by a matchup between the Washington Wizards and the Boston Celtics at the TD Garden. At 5:30 pm EST these two big Eastern Conference guns will do battle. Both teams will be looking to be the best team in the Eastern Conference this season, although it’s never an easy task when the Cavaliers are around.
The games will continue into the night when the Houston Rockets led by James Harden and new signing Chris Paul will travel to Oklahoma to face the Thunder and their new star Paul George along with Russell Westbrook. This will be likely one of the most interesting and intriguing matchups of the season. Lastly, the NBA will end the Christmas night with a game in Los Angeles as the Minnesota Timberwolves will face the Lakers, which should be a fun duel between some young stars.
The rivalry continues
The rivalry that started in 2015 between the Warriors and the Cavaliers will continue on Christmas Day, with or without Kyrie. The splash brothers, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson will lock arms with the DPOY Draymond Green and Finals MVP Kevin Durant in a battle against the greatest player of the generation LeBron James, one of the best power forwards in the league Kevin Love, 2011 MVP Derrick Rose, and maybe or maybe not the most skilful player in the league, Kyrie Irving. Either way, it should be a good one.
