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If you were worried that a probably-Kristaps-Porzingis-less Knicks team might preclude you from watching the Knicks on Christmas this year, fret not! Marc Stein of the New York Times is reporting that the Knicks will play the Bucks during yuletide this year:
A vintage dose of Celtics/Sixers, Giannis and the Bucks at MSG against the Knicks and (you guessed it) LeBron's Lakers in Oakland to face the Warriors are the highlights of the NBA's Christmas Day schedule that will be announced Wednesday afternoon, league sources tell @NYTSports
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) August 8, 2018
Personally, I can’t decide if this is good or bad news. I do quite enjoy watching the Knicks on Christmas (it’s a nice excuse to get a little alone time during an extremely family-centric day for me). But I also quite enjoy not watching them get run off the court. Dilemmas!
If the cover picture gave you PTSD from when Giannis Antetokounmpo jumped and dunked over Tim Hardaway Jr. on Feb. 6 last season, I apologize. Just be grateful I didn’t show the other thing that happened during that game.
But that solemn bad unicorn landing heard ’round the world actually does present an interesting situation:
It would be quite poetic if Kristaps made a magical return on Christmas Day against the same team he suffered his injury against.
— Knicks Film School (@KnickFilmSchool) August 8, 2018
That would definitely be very cool. Porzingis would really have to have a miraculous recovery to get there, though. For now, that’s what I’m going to hang my hope on for an entertaining Christmas day spectacular.
This is notably the first time the Bucks will play on Christmas in 41 years:
Think it's been 41 years. I'm seeing the Bucks at 2-2 all-time on Christmas.
— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) August 8, 2018
1968 - 119-113 loss to Detroit in MKE
1971 - 120-118 OT loss in Detroit
1972 - 104-99 win in Kansas City
1977 - 131-122 win in Kansas City https://t.co/pWAuNjX71v
Other Christmas day games include the Lakers vs. the Warriors (of course), the Sixers vs. the Celtics and the Blazers vs. the Jazz. Official word will come tomorrow, but conventional wisdom says the Knicks will likely be playing at either noon or around 3 p.m. thanks to being one of the two east coast games.