How valuable is leading scorer Stephen Curry to the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors? Bettors will find out on Christmas Day when the Warriors host the Cleveland Cavaliers in an NBA Finals rematch. Golden State and Cleveland have met in each of the last three league championship series, with the former winning twice.
Warriors-Cavaliers will be the second game to tip off on Christmas, preceded by the Philadelphia 76ers visiting the New York Knicks in an Atlantic Division clash. Later in the day, the Boston Celtics will host the Washington Wizards, the Houston Rockets will visit the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Minnesota Timberwolves will travel to Los Angeles to take on the Lakers in a prime-time matchup to close out the action.
Curry (26.3 points per game) has been sidelined with an ankle injury since early December, but Golden State has not missed a beat in his absence, reeling off six straight wins heading into Friday’s nationally televised meeting with the Lakers. The Warriors have won 10 of the past 13 regular-season games against the Cavs, who have covered five of the last eight after going 0-8 against the spread in the previous eight.
Surprisingly, the 76ers and Knicks will be squaring off for the first time this season. The teams split four meetings a year ago that were decided by a combined six points, with Philly going 4-0 ATS. The home team won all four, with the under cashing three times.
The Celtics and Wizards will also be meeting for the first time in a matchup between division leaders. Boston and Washington last met in a thrilling seven-game playoff series, won by the Celtics on their home court after covering the last three. Like Philly-New York, the home team won and covered four regular-season meetings last year.
The Rockets will try to continue their dominance of the Thunder, going for their eighth victory in nine meetings. Again, these teams met in last year’s playoffs, with Houston taking the series in five games (3-2 ATS). The Rockets are 11-3-1 ATS in the last 15 games between the teams as well, and they will be playing each other for the first time since Paul George and Carmelo Anthony joined the Thunder in the offseason.
