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The New York Knicks are still four months away from their annual Christmas Day game, but now they know who will be visiting them at Madison Square Garden.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Knicks will be hosting Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs to kickstart Dec. 25's NBA schedule.
The Spurs vs. Knicks matchup will be followed by a rematch of the Western Conference Finals between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Dallas Mavericks, an Atlantic Division showdown featuring the Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics, a California battle pitting the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors against each other and a Western Conference cap with the Denver Nuggets visiting the Phoenix Suns.
This will mark the 55th time the Knicks have played on Christmas Day. The team has a 22-31 record going into this season on Dec. 25. Last year, the Knicks played Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks and pulled out a 129-122 victory just weeks after the two teams met in the quarterfinals of the In-Season Tournament.
For Wembanyama, the game marks his first opportunity to play on Christmas in the NBA, and it should be the first of what will likely be many games on the league's biggest holiday. Wembanyama won Rookie of the Year honors last season after averaging 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game.
In Wembanyama's first visit to Madison Square Garden back in Nov. 2023, he scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds in a 21-point loss to the Knicks. However, when the two teams met for a rematch in late March, Wembanyama had the best game of his young career, notching a career-high 40 points and 20 rebounds for a Spurs victory in San Antonio.
Now, Part 3 will take place on Christmas Day in front of a worldwide audience.
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