Five Upcoming NBA Games With More Impact Than Christmas Day

If your response to the NBA’s glitzy Christmas Day card was, “It doesn’t get any better than this,” pardon me for raining on your winter parade.

The Jan. 7 slate has the potential to be even better. And totally by accident, mind you.

In my quest to find the five most meaningful games between now and the trade deadline on Feb. 5, I stumbled onto a remarkable coincidence: Four of these five games are on the same day.

No, not scripted like the Christmas ticket. Rather, just plain luck.

Or lack thereof, as the case might be. Four great games on a Wednesday just isn’t a good idea.

For that reason, I can’t justify placing all four on my Fab Five list. I don’t have four TV monitors. Do you?

Here’s what I’m left with … one at a time:

Tonight: Pistons at Clippers

The significance: Don’t look now, but the Clippers have registered a pulse in the past week. Even wins over the Lakers and Rockets after a 6-21 start might not sound like much, but the West is a mess, so the postseason door remains wide open. If the playoffs began today, a 12-19 team would get a play-in spot … and a matchup with another team with a losing record.

If nothing else, the Clippers have determined they’re better off without Chris Paul and Bradley Beal. How much better? You might argue a win on Jan. 7 at New York would carry more weight, but first things first. Thumping the East-leading Pistons for a fourth straight win would send a pretty powerful message. It’s now or never for the Clippers, who could be the biggest sellers at the trade deadline (Kawhi Leonard anyone?) if things don’t continue in a positive direction.

Jan. 7: Nuggets at Celtics

The significance: The Celtics have been a remarkable story this season. Considering what he’s had to work with, Jaylen Brown is having a better season than Jayson Tatum has ever enjoyed. And if Tatum can garner fringe annual consideration for MVP, then maybe Brown should be mentioned among the heavyweights this year.

The one thing the Celtics haven’t done is demonstrate their success isn't a product of an Eastern-heavy schedule. They haven’t seen the Big Three in the West, and got smacked by 27 when they went up against the No. 4, Houston. So in the opener of the Jan. 7 double-header, while the Garden crowd is shouting MVP for their new hero in the face of Nikola Jokic, it would be even more important for Boston to stamp itself as legit. You think Tatum would get the message?

Jan. 7: Bucks at Warriors

The significance: The trade deadline strikes in February, but the date on the calendar circled by the Warriors is Jan. 15, the day Jonathan Kuminga becomes trade-eligible. At this point, he might not warrant much more than a bag of basketballs in return, but they’d have to be gold-plated as it would take $22.5 million in assets to match the exceptionally talented/wildly inconsistent (you make the call) prospect’s salary.

The Warriors likely will have to showcase their pinup boy in order to get a reasonable return, and what better time than with Giannis in town for the Jan. 7 nightcap? Not that it’s close to being a match, but it might be a start if Kuminga wakes up on the right side of the bed on the 7th. The Warriors could make Kuminga look a whole lot more attractive by attaching their first-round pick in 2028, a potential lottery winner the year after Steve Kerr, Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler III and Draymond Green ride off into the sunset as the Four Horsemen of the Golden Apocalypse.

Jan. 23: Rockets at Pistons

The significance: One thing that’s never happened in the NBA is a matchup of brothers in the Finals. Short of Bryce James joining the Celtics next season and lightning striking on each coast, the historic event could wind up pitting the Thompson twins, Amen of the Rockets and Ausar of the Pistons. Heck, you could get about 30-to-1 on your BetMGM account if you want to predict it right now.

Except maybe on the driveway, Thompsons don’t go head-to-head very often. They were on the same CYO, middle school, high school and Overtime Elite teams, and since joining the NBA in 2023, they've dueled just four times, with each winning a pair. The matchups went from non-starters twice to significant players the last two times, with Ausar getting the upper hand 19-10 in a Pistons win at Houston in October. Chances are you didn't watch that one. Don't make that mistake again. The rematch should be entertaining. The unlikely Finals repeat would be intense.

Feb. 9: Thunder at Lakers

The significance: The Lakers need a wake-up call, and they surely need it a lot earlier than the second week of February. A win at San Antonio on Jan. 7 would help, but it might not even warrant top billing on SportsCenter on a night when Jaylen Brown might put up 50 against Jokic, Shams might report Giannis is demanding a trade to the Warriors and the Clippers might fire Tyronn Lue, prompting a fire sale.

No, the Lakers need to think BIG, as in personally delivering a message all the way to the top. You can only do that by beating the Thunder, and here is their next chance. This matchup comes four days after the trade deadline, so what you’d be witnessing truly would be a playoff preview. It could be the last hurrah for LeBron, so enjoy it while you can. Or laugh at its embarrassment if that’s your play.