NBA Christmas Day games quickly became part of the league’s yearly schedule during its infancy years in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The holiday tradition has grown into the biggest spotlight of the regular season.
Christmas games feature matchups between the league’s top teams. The all-day slates usually begin at noon (Eastern) on December 25 and run through the end of the West Coast wave.
The lineup traditionally includes the game’s best rivalries, the most storied franchises, and the marquee stars. Rematches of the most recent NBA Finals sometimes take the 5pm time slot.
76ers on NBA Christmas Day
The Philadelphia 76ers took part in three Christmas games during the 1960s, eight in the 1970s, and four in the 1980s. One NBA Finals rematch against the Los Angeles Lakers in 2001 broke up a long drought between 1988 and 2017.
The Sixers moved out of “The Process” era and back into status as an NBA Christmas Day regular in recent seasons during the prime of Joel Embiid.
The franchise’s greatest superstars have helped carved a legacy on Christmas. Some all-time Sixers moments were bound to come from scheduling Julius Erving at Madison Square Garden, Charles Barkley at the Spectrum, Allen Iverson at the Staples Center, and Embiid at the Wells Fargo Center.
2024
Sixers 118, Boston Celtics 114
TD GardenThe Celtics stepped onto their home floor with a 22-7 record only six months removed from their 18th Larry O’Brien trophy in franchise history.
Jayson Tatum and company had owned their historic rival in three playoff series victories during his eight-year career.
The Sixers had about as disastrous of a start to the 2024-25 season as anyone could’ve imagined. Joel Embiid and Paul George had both missed significant time, and Philadelphia entered the NBA Christmas Day showcase with longshot odds.
Tyrese Maxey clawed for 33 points while Embiid and George played limited minutes. The underdog Sixers tuned out the noise and the drama and treated their fans to a well-deserved Christmas present.
Caleb Martin helped Maxey out with seven three-pointers that stunned the chesty crowd at TD Garden.
For at least one day during the 2024-25 season, fans of the 76ers remembered what it feels like to enjoy a basketball game.
2023
Miami Heat 119, Sixers 113
Kaseya CenterThe league hoped to sell a matchup between former teammates Joel Embiid and Jimmy Butler when the Sixers took on the Heat as part of the NBA Christmas Day schedule in 2023.
The Heat were coming off an Eastern Conference championship, and the Sixers looked like a threat with Embiid somehow reaching a new level of dominance.
Injuries to both star players took the wind out of the sails. An 8pm tipoff came after the day’s best games and after an Eagles home game.
Kyle Lowry took on key minutes for the Heat before eventually joining his hometown team later in the season.
2022
Sixers 119, New York Knicks 112
Madison Square GardenThe expectation of James Harden and Joel Embiid as teammates for a full season set title expectations for the 2022-23 season in Philadelphia.
All excitement for the Christmas matchup against the Knicks shifted when a Woj bomb about Harden’s looming free agency dropped on Christmas morning.
Would Harden leave to return to the Houston Rockets? Did it mean the Sixers had a one-year title contention window with him?
The Sixers tipped off against the Knicks at noon. They didn’t take their first lead until the fourth quarter, but they came away with a thrilling comeback victory at the Garden behind an impressive 35-point effort from Embiid.
However, it’s tough for any Sixers fans to remember the day positively. It set off a chain of events that ultimately ended Harden’s tenure in Philadelphia with very little to show for it.
2019
Sixers 121, Milwaukee Bucks 109
Wells Fargo CenterJoel Embiid dropped 31 points in a convincing victory for the 76ers. He made even more contributions on the defensive end guarding Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The Greek Freak finished with 18, and the Sixers took down a red hot opponent who entered Christmas Day with a 27-4 record.
The Sixers also set a franchise record with 21 three-pointers. Tobias Harris, Josh Richardson, and Furkan Korkmaz might not be the most impressive list of franchise legends, but they caught fire from beyond the arc on Christmas in 2019.
2018
Boston Celtics 121, Sixers 114 (OT)
TD GardenThe 76ers took a huge step forward in 2017-18. They won their first playoff series since the notorious “Process” began. Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid looked like long-term building blocks of a team with a championship ceiling.
The Celtics had spoiled the progress in the second round of the playoffs, however.
The league gave the rising Sixers a major spotlight opportunity with a 5pm tipoff on NBA Christmas Day against a premier franchise. They hung tough and forced a loaded Boston team to overtime with big efforts from Embiid and the newly-acquired Jimmy Butler.
Kyrie Irving dropped 40 in the holiday showcase game, and Marcus Morris brought some toughness to the paint in a Boston victory.
2017
Sixers 105, New York Knicks 98
Madison Square GardenWhen the league released the schedule for the 2017-18 season, it provided a major symbol of change in Philadelphia.
The Sixers were a team important enough to play on NBA Christmas Day for the first time in 16 years, and they would do it in the world’s most famous arena against a marquee franchise.
“The Process” was finally over. The Sixers tipped off league action at noon in 2017 and grabbed a seven-point victory.
The win was important for a fan base desperate to be taken seriously after years outside the league’s brightest regular-season spotlight.
2001
December 25, 2001
Los Angeles Lakers 88, Sixers 82
Staples CenterLarry Brown maximized the talent on Philadelphia’s roster during the famed run to the NBA Finals in 2001. A team with deficiencies struggled out of the gates in 2001-02 after the grind of the deep playoff run.
The Sixers traveled to TinselTown On Christmas Day with an 11-15 record to face a 19-4 freight train that had broken their hearts just six months early.
However, the Lakers were wounded. Shaquille O’Neal missed the game, and Kobe Bryant struggled with limited mobility to finish with 12 points.
The injuries tipped the scales back toward Philadelphia in their first NBA Christmas Day game in 13 years.
Allen Iverson came out swinging and helped the Sixers to a 10-point lead at halftime. He finished with 31, and the Sixers had a victory in their sights entering the fourth.
It wasn’t because of Kobe. It wasn’t because of Shaq. It was Samaki Walker. The journeyman stunned the Sixers with 18 points, and the Lakers snuck away with a six-point victory.
Mandatory Credit: Jeff Gross/Allsport
1980s
December 25, 1984
Sixers 109, Detroit Pistons 108
The Palace at Auburn HillsRookie Charles Barkley had teamed up with Julius Erving and Moses Malone by the time the Sixers landed back on the Christmas Day schedule two seasons after their NBA championship in 1983. They snuck away from the Pistons in their first holiday showcase in five years.
December 25, 1986
Washington Bullets 102, Sixers 97
The SpectrumErving, Barkley, and Mo Cheeks were all on the roster, but Cliff Robinson surprisingly led the team with 28 points in his first of three seasons in Philadelphia. It was the Spectrum’s first chance to host on Christmas since 1971.
December 25, 1987
Atlanta Hawks 106, Sixers 100
The SpectrumBarkley continued his ascension as an NBA superstar, but the Sixers didn’t have enough to take down the Hawks in the two respective franchises’ only Christmas Day matchup in history.
December 25, 1988
Sixers 125, Washington Bullets 110
The SpectrumAn offensive explosion helped the Sixers to a Christmas gift that helped them to a 46-36 record in 1988-89 under head coach Jim Lynam.
1960s
December 25, 1967
Sixers 108, Baltimore Bullets 105
Baltimore Civic CenterBilly Cunningham and Hal Greer dropped 27 apiece while Wilt Chamberlain casually grabbed 25 rebounds in front of a crowd of over 49,000 at the Baltimore Civic Center.
The defending NBA champion Sixers captured the win in their first Christmas Day game since the relocation from Syracuse to Philadelphia in 1963.
December 25, 1968
New York Knicks 110, Sixers 109
Madison Square GardenWillis Reed led the way for the Knicks with 25 points in 46 minutes on the floor. The Sixers had lost Wilt Chamberlain to the Lakers entering the season, but Cunningham and Greer still carried the load to a 55-27 record.
December 25, 1969
Baltimore Bullets 121, Sixers 113
Baltimore Civic CenterThe Bullets avenged a loss against the Sixers on Christmas Day two seasons earlier as Philadelphia’s status at the top of the NBA began to fade.
