NBA Christmas Odds: Pro Basketball Holiday Betting Guide

Written By Matt Burke | Last Updated at August 14, 2026

When it comes to sports on Christmas Day, the NBA has long been king. The Association will be serving up five games this year and NBA Christmas odds are available to wager on right now.

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NBA Christmas odds

Here are NBA Christmas odds for this year's slate of holiday games.

In an effort to show how NBA Christmas odds are changing, here are what the point spreads looked like two days before Christmas.

San Antonio Spurs +9 at New York Knicks -9
Minnesota Timberwolves +4.5 at Dallas Mavericks -4.5
Philadelphia 76ers +9 at Boston Celtics -9
Los Angeles Lakers +4.5 at Golden State Warriors -4.5
Denver Nuggets +1.5 at Phoenix Suns -1.5

San Antonio Spurs at New York Knicks – 12 p.m. ET

The Spurs vs. Knicks game had an initial total of 225.5.

[tallysight url="https://tallysight.com/new/widget/tile/nba/org:the-lines/event:2024-25-week-of-dec-23/topic:san-antonio-spurs-new-york-knicks/variant:2/deeplinks?id=1d070f0e-6a08-4be7-af71-bc260685830e"]

Minnesota Timberwolves at Dallas Mavericks – 2:30 p.m. ET

The Timberwolves vs. Mavericks game had an initial total of 228.5.

[tallysight url="https://tallysight.com/new/widget/tile/nba/org:the-lines/event:2024-25-week-of-dec-23/topic:minnesota-timberwolves-dallas-mavericks/variant:2/deeplinks?id=752133e4-bfac-41bf-af94-aba1baaca681"]

Philadelphia 76ers at Boston Celtics – 5 p.m. ET

The 76ers vs. Celtics game had an initial total of 228.

[tallysight url="https://tallysight.com/new/widget/tile/nba/org:the-lines/event:2024-25-week-of-dec-23/topic:philadelphia-76-ers-boston-celtics/variant:2/deeplinks?id=a38c2194-4abc-4999-a816-4a6e549d7e74"]

Los Angeles Lakers at Golden State Warriors – 8 p.m. ET

The Lakers vs. Warriors game had an initial total of 234.

[tallysight url="https://tallysight.com/new/widget/tile/nba/org:the-lines/event:2024-25-week-of-dec-23/topic:los-angeles-lakers-golden-state-warriors/variant:2/deeplinks?id=796998fe-91e0-4a01-99d3-8277b9c392f7"]

Denver Nuggets at Phoenix Suns – 10:30 p.m. ET

The Nuggets vs. Suns game had an initial total of 225.5.

[tallysight url="https://tallysight.com/new/widget/tile/nba/org:the-lines/event:2024-25-week-of-dec-23/topic:denver-nuggets-phoenix-suns/variant:2/deeplinks?id=b0a51130-b81c-44e7-ac7d-4db4e0dd9d4a"]

How to watch Christmas Day basketball

Christmas Day games will be televised by ESPN and ABC.

This season’s Christmas games will air as follows:

San Antonio Spurs at New York Knicks, 12 p.m. ABC/ESPN
Minnesota Timberwolves at Dallas Mavericks, 2:30 p.m. ABC/ESPN
Philadelphia 76ers at Boston Celtics, 5 p.m. ABC/ESPN
Los Angeles Lakers at Golden State Warriors, 8 p.m. ABC/ESPN
Denver Nuggets at Phoenix Suns, 10:30 p.m. ABC/ESPN

Games are also viewable on a number of authorized streaming services, such as the ESPN APP, Twitch, PlayStation Vue, Hulu, Sling and YouTube TV for those who don’t have cable or satellite programming subscriptions. However, subscriptions to these streaming services are required.

Holiday basketball betting strategy

Christmas Day NBA games are high-profile matchups that usually bring the best out of stars on both sides. Superstars rarely sit out Christmas games and the matchups often pit rivals against one another. Betting on teams that have a revenge narrative (such as the Timberwolves against the Mavericks in this year’s slate) is a good way to bank on the importance of these holiday games.

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Teams and players that aren't usually in the Christmas spotlight may put added importance on the game. The Spurs for instance, are new to this marquee matchup thing. At the same time, the Warriors have been out of the limelight for a couple of years now due to injury issues and the defection of Kevin Durant.

LeBron James has played in a whopping 16 Christmas games in his career and has a straight-up record of 10-6. Last year, LeBron and the Lakers lost to the Celtics in LA, 126-115.