Jingle hoops, jingle hoops! The NBA’s annual tinsel-wrapped showcase is on full tilt Wednesday, with a few Christmas newcomers (Victor Wembanyama, Anthony Edwards) joining our usual holiday staples (LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry).

Basketball has enjoyed a symbiotic and occasionally campy relationship with this calendar date, from the Jordan-Ewing smash of 1986 to the iconic Shaq-Kobe grudge match in 2004 to those weirdly-endearing fluorescent uniforms from a few years prior.

Here’s your viewing guide for the NBA’s holiday quintuple.

You can stream the NBA on Fubo (try for free).

Full NBA Christmas Day TV schedule

All times Eastern

Time: Noon ET
TV: ABC, ESPN

We tip off with the ascendant Spurs visiting the hot-shooting Knicks. San Antonio is markedly better than last year’s 22-win clunker — Victor Wembanyama is the clubhouse leader for Defensive Player of the Year, Chris Paul is averaging more than eight assists per game in his 20th season and this team entered the week 8-3 in clutch games. But they’re understandably road underdogs against Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns and New York. This franchise hosted the league’s inaugural Christmas game in 1947, and has played on this day more than anyone else.

Gift-wrapped good stuff: New York’s offense is patient, fluid and an overall awesome way to start the day. Brunson and Towns are confounding opposing defenses in two-man action, and this starting lineup can comfortably go five out to lengthen and distort the floor. The Knicks are second in 3-point percentage and fourth in 2-point percentage. They’re careful with possessions and convert their free throws, and five players average at least two makes from behind the arc.

Towns has the best effective shooting rate of his career, and his penchant for drawing out and manipulating bigs is particularly fun to watch.

.@karltowns went to WORK 🔋

22 PTS | 22 REB | 5 AST pic.twitter.com/5Bmu0LYJe0

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) December 16, 2024

Stocking stuffer: It’s Wembanyama, of course. He’s stuffing the stocks (steals + blocks) at a historic pace — through two NBA seasons, San Antonio’s prodigal talent is tied with Hakeem Olajuwon for the best stock-per-game average ever. He’s up to 3.8 rejections in his age-21 season, and has four games with at least seven blocks so far. Wembanyama bounces like synthetic rubber on shot contests, with a steely discipline around the rim. Wemby vs. Towns will be one of the coolest matchups of the day.

The heartwarming holiday angle: Gregg Popovich shared an encouraging update on his recovery from the minor stroke he suffered in November.

“No one is more excited to see me return to the bench than the talented individuals who have been leading my rehabilitation process,” the 75-year-old said in a team statement. “They’ve quickly learned that I’m less than coachable.”

Popovich’s wry aloofness is a trademark of 21st-century basketball, but the recent outpouring of love for him should warm even the Grinch-iest.

Best Christmas moments

• 1984: Bernard King dropped a 60-piece in Madison Square Garden. That’s still the Christmas Day scoring record.
• 2008: In a primetime edition of a heated mid-aughts rivalry, Tony Parker scored 27 points to put the Spurs over the Phoenix Suns, 91-90.

Time: 2:30 p.m. ET
TV: ABC, ESPN

Our second game is an updated installment of last season’s Western Conference Finals. Luka Dončić averaged more than 32 points per game in that series, and he’ll look to reprise his dominance against a Timberwolves squad ranked fifth in defensive rating and fourth in scoring defense.

Gift-wrapped good stuff: There are a lot of gifts here, but Dončić vs. Anthony Edwards is the equivalent of the luxury SUV with the huge red bow in the driveway. Two of the league’s best pure scorers and most pugnacious alpha dogs go at it Wednesday, with each trying more than 10 3-pointers a game this season. Edwards is still liable to posterize and humiliate at the basket, but more than half of his shot attempts are coming from deep thus far. He has six 30-point outings, the most recent coming Dec. 6 in a win over the Golden State Warriors. He also has the best defensive rating of his career. Edwards has certainly earned this Christmas debut.

Dončić gets buckets, often without needing too much assistance. He’s in the 83rd percentile in isolation scoring and 95th percentile off handoffs. The Slovenian supernova has 10 30-point games, and notched a season-high 45 in a triple-doubling of the Warriors on Dec. 15, but hadn’t played since then until Monday’s win against Portland.

Stocking stuffers: It was looking a bit gnarly for Klay Thompson in new threads. But he’s been steadily rerouting the “washed” discussion this month, averaging more than 17 points on 52.4 percent from the floor and 45.3 from 3-point range. Thompson had 13 huge fourth-quarter points in that win at Golden State.

Minnesota has trudged through a disappointing start, but don’t sleep on this hard-working defense. The Wolves are making it happen despite uninspiring stuff off the glass (25th in the NBA in rebounds). This group generates turnovers and gets after jump shooters. Opponents are just 34 percent on the 3-ball this year.

The betting angle: Dallas is 8-5 against the spread at home.

Best Christmas moments

• 2017: Minnesota earned its first-ever Christmas win with a 121-104 throttling of the Los Angeles Lakers. Jimmy Butler played 41 minutes and tallied 23 points, five boards and eight dimes.
• 2011: Because the lockout shifted the schedule back a few months, Dallas was able to unfurl its championship banner on the Christmas broadcast.

Time: 5 p.m. ET
TV: ABC, ESPN

These teams are diametrically opposed in so many ways. Boston is the defending champion; Philadelphia has reached one conference championship since 1985. The Celtics are cruising off of stellar chemistry and roster continuity. The Sixers are, well, not doing that.

The Celts open the week at 22-6, third in net rating. Philly is at 9-17, 24th in net rating, and almost half of its wins are against the blundering Charlotte Hornets. Still, this is a compelling rivalry matchup with top-line star power and narrative intrigue.

Gift-wrapped good stuff: No one in this sport takes or makes more 3-pointers than Boston. Seven Celtics are averaging at least two made treys per game, and Payton Pritchard has more than doubled his production from deep on very high volume. These guys have weeded out the mid-range jumper in favor of ultra-efficiency on and off the ball. Jayson Tatum has the best effective field goal percentage of his eight pro seasons.

Stocking stuffers: Derrick White is a delight. He has increased his minutes, scoring and offensive rating in each of his four Celtics campaigns. Per Cleaning the Glass, the 30-year-old vet is in the 81st percentile for points per shot attempt, and the 87th percentile for assist-to-usage rate. Opponents are shooting just 40.9 percent on fourth-quarter paint tries against White this season. His transition blocks induce spit-takes.

Derrick White is truly a generational shot blocker pic.twitter.com/EAjOdij9FX

— Noa Dalzell 🏀 (@NoaDalzell) December 8, 2024

The heartwarming holiday angle: Guerschon Yabusele is perhaps Philadelphia’s lone bright spot in this Hieronymus Bosch painting of a season. The former Celtics first-round pick was on the outskirts of the NBA by 2019, and spent the past several seasons overseas in China, France and Spain. He’s maximizing his second life in the NBA, up to nine points a game after averaging below three in Boston. “I just remember grabbing my family and telling them, ‘We might go back,’ ” Yabusele told The Athletic’s Jared Weiss. “It was really special.”

Best Christmas moments:

• 1984: Moses Malone gave Bill Laimbeer the work, with 28 points and 15 boards in a one-point victory over the Pistons.
• 1967: John Havlicek had a 21-point triple-double in a 134-124 defeat of the Knicks.

Los Angeles Lakers at Golden State Warriors

Time: 8 p.m. ET
TV: ABC, ESPN

No one has played more games or scored more points on Dec. 25 than LeBron James. It’s basically been two full decades since he wasn’t part of the NBA’s holiday plans. Perhaps we can measure the passage of time by LeBron’s Christmas appearances — from the grinding 2003 classic with Tracy McGrady, to the sleeved jersey era and those seasonal script fonts, to today’s embrace as a shooting-sleeved elder statesmen.

Gift-wrapped good stuff: Look, just because we seem to get this same gift every year doesn’t mean it isn’t awesome. James may be a step slower than his usual transcendence…because he is about to turn 40 years old and has played what feels like three lifetimes of televised basketball. But he’s not done yet. After a dispiriting stretch a few weeks ago, he’s putting up 27.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 8.5 assists across his last six games.

The same goes for Stephen Curry, whom we should never grow tired of watching. It would certainly be cool to see Curry locked in for this one, as he’s been uncharacteristically quiet in 10 career Christmas games (less than 16 points per game on beguiling 31.7 percent shooting).

Stocking stuffers: Dennis Schröder has some funny history with Wednesday’s headliners. He, James and Anthony Davis have a cool (and hilarious) game-winning moment together. He was also ejected for going at Draymond Green in a postseason game two years ago. Schröder arrives at a crucial time for Golden State, which has lost nine of its last 12 contests.

The betting angle: The Lakers are 6-10 against the spread on the road.

Best Christmas moments

• 2008: Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and the Lakers snapped the rival Celtics’ 18-game win streak in a dramatic Finals rematch. Bryant led all scorers with 27 points.
• 2013: in one of this core’s first signature moments on the national stage, Golden State topped the “Lob City” Clippers on the strength of Harrison Barnes’ late free throws and Klay Thompson’s game-saving block of Chris Paul.

Time: 10 p.m. ET
TV: ABC, ESPN

The slate concludes with a fantastic (if rather late) duel between Phoenix and Denver. Both sides were harboring championship expectations, and have since had to reconcile with poor injury luck and a concerningly-thin bench. If Kevin Durant is this generation’s original “unicorn,” then Nikola Jokić is something of an inverse fever dream. Devin Booker and Jamal Murray tout two of the silkiest jumpers in the game. If you can stay awake, this one should reward you in spades.

Gift-wrapped good stuff: Take the opportunity to witness Jokić’s singular, brain-tingling coolness this season. He’s a few assists away from averaging a 30-point triple-double while leading the league in 3-point percentage. Sure, John Hollinger’s PER is just one of the boundless ways to quantify this sport we love, but do you know who leads the NBA in all-time player efficiency rating? It’s not Michael Jordan or LeBron James — they are second and third, respectively. Yup, it’s this guy.

Joker with a game-high 25 points at halftime

25 PTS / 9 REB / 4 AST pic.twitter.com/sr4FQY4hIF

— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) December 9, 2024

Stocking stuffers: Bradley Beal is gradually working his way back toward expectations. He’s playing 34 minutes a night this month, and has made more than half his shots in four of six December games.

The betting angle: Vegas really can’t get the Suns right this year. They’re 9-18 against the spread. The over is 12-2 after a Nuggets win.

Best Christmas moments

• 2022: Denver won this exact matchup in an overtime thriller, 128-125. Jokić had a very Jokić 41/15/15 line.
• 1969: In just their second year of existence, the Suns beat the defending champion Celtics, 127-116, at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Paul Silas had 25 points on 11 shots.

(Photo of Anthony Edwards and Luka Dončić David Berding / Getty Images)