The Utah Jazz mascot Jazz Bear delivers gifts to fans. Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports

NBA 'preparing contingencies' in case of Christmas Day postponements

The NBA hasn't gone on an official pause yet, like the NHL will do until next week, but the league is preparing for anything to happen, particularly with regard to the scheduled five-game slate on Christmas Day.

There are currently no NBA games scheduled for Christmas Eve on Friday. There are five tilts slated for Christmas Day on Saturday, all of them on national broadcasts.

The Atlanta Hawks (14-15) and New York Knicks (13-17) are supposed to get things started at 12 p.m. ET, followed by the Boston Celtics (15-16) and Milwaukee Bucks (19-13) at 2:30 p.m. ET.

A matchup between the two top teams in basketball — the Golden State Warriors (25-6) and Phoenix Suns (24-5) — is tentatively at 5 p.m. ET, while the Brooklyn Nets (21-9) and Los Angeles Lakers (16-15) are slated for 8 p.m. ET. The quintuple-header finale will be the Dallas Mavericks (14-15) and Utah Jazz (21-9) at 10:30 p.m. ET.

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