The Toronto Raptors will once again not be featured on the NBA’s Christmas Day slate.
The Raptors have only played on Christmas twice in the team’s 29-year existence.
The league will reportedly have five games set for Christmas this year, which will feature some exciting matchups.
According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the San Antonio Spurs will take on the New York Knicks in the first game. The Dallas Mavericks will host the Minnesota Timberwolves in a rematch of the Western Conference Finals. The reigning NBA champion Boston Celtics will take on the Philadelphia 76ers. LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers will face off against Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors. Finally, the Phoenix Suns will take on the Denver Nuggets:
NBA Christmas Day games for the 2024-25 season, per sources:
🎄Spurs at Knicks
🎄Timberwolves at Mavericks
🎄76ers at Celtics
🎄Lakers at Warriors
🎄Nuggets at Suns— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 9, 2024
The biggest takeaway from this year’s Christmas Day slate is that the San Antonio Spurs will be featured despite only winning 22 games last season. This is due to the star power of Victor Wembanyama.
As for the Raptors, they last played a Christmas Day game against the Boston Celtics in 2019 following the team’s championship season.
Prior to that, Toronto’s only other Christmas Day game came in 2001 when Vince Carter and the Raptors fell short to the New York Knicks 102-94.
The Raptors are not expected to get many, if any, prime time games this season. The Raptors are in their rebuild and they are not expected to be a playoff team any time soon.
The NBA’s full 2024-25 schedule is expected to be announced later this month.
Toronto’s WNBA team is asking fans for suggestions
Toronto’s new WNBA team is asking fans for suggestions.
The franchise is reaching out to the public to get ideas for the team’s name and logo.
Fans can go to NameYourTeam.ca to share their suggestions to inspire the team’s identity.
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