Miami -2 New York
Orlando -5 Boston
Phoenix -9.5 Los Angeles Clippers
Los Angeles Lakers -5 Cleveland
Miami @ New York
Boston @ Orlando
Cleveland @ Los Angeles Lakers
Los Angeles Clippers @ Phoenix
Denver @ Portland
Link to Schedule
Christmas Day clashes bring back fond memories
The memories in the Ford home include everything you'd expect at Christmas. The decorated tree lighting up their house, the gifts underneath waiting to get unwrapped and family feasting on mom's best meal of the year.
"For us, it was an event," Pacers point guard T.J. Ford said. "You'd open presents, have a big meal, then all of your family members -- everybody would get in front of the TV -- and watch two of the better teams in the NBA go at it. It was something in my household growing up that we'd look forward to and continue to watch those games every Christmas."
The NBA began playing on Christmas Day with the inception of the league in the late 1940s, but it wasn't until 1983 that those games started becoming a household tradition. CBS and ESPN televised the first Christmas games that year with New Jersey-New York and Los Angeles Lakers-Portland, respectively.
The annual event has grown to five games this year, matching the most ever on Christmas. ABC tips off its NBA season with a doubleheader of league heavyweights. Boston visits Orlando (2:30 p.m. ET) in an Eastern Conference clash before Cleveland locks horns with the Lakers (5 p.m.) Link
