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Guess what, people of Perth, it’s almost Christmas! And with it come a few must-do traditions — a Christmas Lights tour of Perth (if you haven’t already done so), watching the best Christmas movie of all time (Die Hard), cooking some prawns on the barbeque while complaining about the dry heat and flies, and of course, watching the NBA Christmas fixtures.
Okay, maybe that last one isn’t a Perth tradition; however, the So Perth office loves its basketball and there’s always constant banter about who will win the day’s NBA matchups. This year we decided to have some fun and have a face-off between Adam and me to see which one of us is the better predictor of NBA matchups across 14 games to win the crown of TABtouch Sports Predictor Genius of the Year.
But first, what games are we looking forward to the most?
Celtics vs Lakers
As a long-time Lakers fan, I can’t go past this match-up. The Lakers have just won the inaugural in-season tournament while the Celtics are having a strong season, sitting as the best team in the Eastern Conference.
The rivalry between these two teams always makes for an entertaining game. Each team has won the NBA Finals 17 times with the Lakers last winning it in 2020 and the Celtics in 2008. For this match-up, I’m unfortunately picking the Celtics to win. Their youth and speed will be too much for LeBron and Davis’ Lakers despite the home-court advantage.
Mavericks vs Suns
It was Game 7 of the Western Conference Semi-Final in 2022 where the Suns were looking to put away the Mavericks on their home court to advance to the Western Conference Finals. However, Luka would have something to say about that as he went on to own Devin Booker and the Suns, posting 35 points and 10 rebounds en route to humiliating the Suns 123-90 on their home court.
Since that day, the Luka vs Booker feud has only grown bigger — becoming a must-watch matchup and no doubt the NBA strategically scheduled this blockbuster to be the final game of the NBA Christmas Day action.
Who will win the Christmas Day matchup though? While Luka will no doubt have the best stats on the day, I can’t see him having enough of a supporting cast to get past Booker and Durant.
Christmas Day Games
Here are the predictions for the Christmas Day games and yes, we realise that while these games are played on Christmas Day in the US, it’ll be Boxing Day morning when they air in Perth.
| Matchup | Adam’s Prediction | Jason’s Prediction |
| Bucks vs Knicks | Bucks by 10 points | Bucks by 5 points |
| Warriors vs Nuggets | Warriors by 8 points | Nuggets by 3 with a Jokic triple-double |
| Celtics vs Lakers | Celtics by 9 points | Celtics by 7 points |
| 76ers vs Heat | 76ers by 7 points | Heat by 4 points |
| Mavericks vs Suns | Suns by 10 points | Mavericks by 2 points |
Boxing Day Games
| Matchup | Adam’s Prediction | Jason’s Prediction |
| Nets vs Pistons | Nets by 13 points | Nets by 12 points |
| Magic vs Wizards | Wizards by 8 points | Wizards by 6 points |
| Hawks vs Bulls | Bulls by 6 points | Hawks by 1 point |
| Pacers vs Rockets | Pacers by 9 points | Pacers by 8 points |
| Grizzlies vs Pelicans | Grizzlies by 7 points | Grizzlies by 5 points |
| Timberwolves vs Thunder | Timberwolves by 11 points | Thunder by 2 points with a clutch play by SGA securing the win |
| Jazz vs Spurs | Jazz by 10 points | Jazz by 7 points |
| Kings vs Blazers | Blazers by 8 points | Kings by 3 points |
| Hornets vs Clippers | Clippers by 12 points | Clippers by 8 points |
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Find out more about what’s playing during the summer of sports here.
This article was sponsored by TABtouch. Main image credit: CJ Gunther AAP Photos.
