The annual New York Knicks Christmas Day showcase
With the NBA releasing it’s traditional Christmas lineup, It should surprise no one that the New York Knicks are featured primarily for geographical reasons.
On Thursday, NBA league officials released the traditional Christmas Day five-pack of games and once again the New York Knicks will start things off from Madison Square Garden.
New York will once again start play at noon against another division rival the young and expected to be exciting Philadelphia 76ers.
The common misconception in regards to the Knicks’ appearance on Christmas Day is that the league values the team’s potential for the upcoming season.
That is clearly mistaken and the Knicks are basically a backdrop for the national showcase of the Sixers young talents Markelle Fultz, Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. The history of Madison Square Garden producing many great memorable moments in NBA history is too valuable to pass up as the league wants to introduce casual fans to the potentially explosive trio.
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The other factor is of course Christmas Day itself being synonymous with New York City and the many references to famous films such as “A Miracle On 34th Street.”
New York is and will forever be the perfect spot to start a day in which the league promotes its brightest stars to a major national television audience.
The Knicks are 22-30 all-time on Christmas Day. They have played more Christmas Day games than any other team, essentially leading them to have the most wins and losses on this holiday.
The most iconic moment from this day for the franchise came in 1984 as former Knicks great and Basketball Hall of Famer Bernard King scored 60 points in a 120-114 loss to the New Jersey Nets. The performance still holds up as the highest individual point total in the holiday’s history.
New York hosted the opening game last year, falling to the Boston Celtics 119-114 in a very highly contested division matchup. Kristaps Porzingis shared his thoughts with the media last year after completing his first Christmas Day game at Madison Square Garden.
"“There were no nerves, It just happens. I liked the atmosphere. The atmosphere, I think, was the best out of any home game this season. We wanted to win it for us and we wanted to win it for the crowd and then to win on Christmas Day and start [my first] Christmas game with a win, We just couldn’t finish it at the end.”"
The atmosphere in New York on Christmas does translate well on camera as even in the many losses fans still sell out Knicks home games. The goal heading into this year’s match up will be to obviously win and protect their home floor regardless of the potentially overwhelming odds against them.
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The importance of the game will probably take on the look of a playoff atmosphere as fans would like to celebrate the holiday on a positive not once leaving the arena.
The Knicks are essentially what the Detroit Lions or Dallas Cowboys are in the NFL to Thanksgiving it’s almost imperative that they play well annually on this holiday win or lose.