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The December NBA game with the most riding on it is San Antonio at New York on Christmas Day, a rematch of the 2026 NBA Finals that the Knicks won 4-1. Around it sit the NBA Cup knockout rounds, with the championship game on Friday, December 11, and Detroit at Oklahoma City on December 22, the two teams with the best records in their conferences last season.
The 2026-27 schedule is posted, and 178 games fall in December. The ones below put the teams at the top of the championship board on the same floor, and seven of the eight already have a TV network listed.
December NBA games to watch
Tip times are Eastern and come from the league schedule as ESPN lists it on September 24, 2026. Records are from the 2025-26 regular season.
| Date | Game | Tip (ET) | TV | 2025-26 records |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue, Dec. 15 | Spurs at Cavaliers | 8:00 p.m. | NBC | 62-20 and 52-30 |
| Mon, Dec. 21 | Knicks at Cavaliers | 7:00 p.m. | NBCSN | 53-29 and 52-30 |
| Tue, Dec. 22 | Pistons at Thunder | 8:00 p.m. | NBC | 60-22 and 64-18 |
| Fri, Dec. 25 | Spurs at Knicks | 12:00 p.m. | ABC, ESPN | 62-20 and 53-29 |
| Fri, Dec. 25 | Thunder at Timberwolves | 8:00 p.m. | ABC, ESPN | 64-18 and 49-33 |
| Sun, Dec. 27 | Thunder at Rockets | 3:30 p.m. | not listed | 64-18 and 52-30 |
| Mon, Dec. 28 | Cavaliers at Celtics | 8:00 p.m. | NBC | 52-30 and 56-26 |
| Mon, Dec. 28 | Timberwolves at Nuggets | 10:30 p.m. | NBC | 49-33 and 54-28 |
The line on each game goes up closer to the date. FanDuel Sportsbook posts NBA sides and totals, and our nightly calls are on the NBA predictions hub.
Spurs at Knicks on Christmas Day
New York has beaten San Antonio in two title games since December 2025. The Knicks beat San Antonio 124-113 in the 2025 NBA Cup championship game on December 16, 2025, then beat the Spurs again in the 2026 Finals, four games to one, with the clincher a 94-90 win in San Antonio on June 13.
San Antonio got to those Finals by beating Oklahoma City in seven games in the Western Conference finals, winning Game 7 111-103 on the road. Victor Wembanyama was the West finals MVP and Jalen Brunson the Finals MVP. The Christmas game tips at noon at Madison Square Garden, the first of five games that day.
The rest of Christmas Day
Five games run from noon to the late window, all on ABC and ESPN. Our NBA Christmas games odds and predictions page covers the full day.
- 12:00 p.m.: Spurs at Knicks
- 2:30 p.m.: Heat at Celtics
- 5:00 p.m.: 76ers at Lakers
- 8:00 p.m.: Thunder at Timberwolves
- 10:30 p.m.: Nuggets at Warriors
Oklahoma City, 64-18 last season and the league’s best record, plays three of the games in our table inside six days: Detroit on the 22nd, Minnesota on Christmas night and Houston on the 27th.
The NBA Cup takes the first half of the month
The knockout rounds come before most of the games above. ESPN lists the quarterfinals on December 4 and 5, both on Prime Video, semifinal play on December 8 and the championship game on Friday, December 11, at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The teams in them are still to be decided.
New York won the Cup last season, and Brunson was its MVP. The schedule clears around the knockout rounds: ESPN lists no games at all on December 6, 7, 9 and 10.
What December does to the championship prices
These are the 2026-27 title prices for the teams in the games above, from the DraftKings board ESPN carries, read September 24, 2026. The market is for the season about to start: it sits under ESPN’s 2026-27 season, and New York, which won the 2026 title, is priced at +900 to win again.
| Team | Title price | Implied chance |
|---|---|---|
| Oklahoma City Thunder | +270 | 27.0% |
| San Antonio Spurs | +270 | 27.0% |
| New York Knicks | +900 | 10.0% |
| Boston Celtics | +1300 | 7.1% |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | +2200 | 4.3% |
| Denver Nuggets | +2500 | 3.8% |
| Detroit Pistons | +2500 | 3.8% |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | +2500 | 3.8% |
| Houston Rockets | +5000 | 2.0% |
The implied chance is 100 divided by the price plus 100. A futures bet is only worth making when you rate a team’s chance higher than the price does, and a price taken before December is fixed while the board keeps moving. Detroit is the price that stands out: the East’s top seed last season at 60-22 is at +2500, behind four East teams it finished ahead of, New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Cleveland.
For the award races these games feed, see our NBA MVP odds and NBA championship odds pages. FanDuel Research carries NBA news and trends through the month.
