On the same day LeBron James and Steph Curry led the U.S. men’s basketball team to a thrilling semifinal victory over Serbia to clinch their spot in the Paris Olympics gold-medal game against France, it was revealed that their respective NBA teams will have a marquee matchup on Christmas Day.
The Lakers will travel to San Francisco to play the Golden State Warriors on Dec. 25, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported on Thursday. The game is likely to tip off around 5:15 p.m. PT.
It will mark the second time the Lakers and Warriors have played each other on Christmas in the past seven years, with the Lakers beating the Warriors on Dec. 25, 2018 in James’ first season with the Lakers.
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In addition to the 2018 matchup, James’ and Curry’s teams squared off on Christmas for three consecutive seasons (2015-17) when James was on the Cleveland Cavaliers. Curry didn’t play in the 2017 game.
The NBA’s Christmas Day slate will reportedly feature five games and the league’s biggest stars, as is typically the case. Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs will play at the New York Knicks, the Minnesota Timberwolves will play at the Dallas Mavericks in a Western Conference finals rematch, the Philadelphia 76ers will play at the reigning NBA champion Boston Celtics and Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets will travel to Phoenix to face Kevin Durant and the Suns.
The complete regular-season schedule will be released later this month.
