basketball

All we want for Christmas is…pretty much everything in our Men’s Contemporary Clothing department right now. We haven’t been THAT nice this year though, so we’re happy to settle for five back-to-back basketball games—on regular TV! (NBA League Pass was another gift we didn’t quite hit the niceness quotient for)—on Christmas Day. If you have kids, make sure to wake them up bright and early so you can get all that present-opening jazz out of the way before the 9am tip-off. The lineup is as follows:

Boston Celtics at Brooklyn Nets — 9am PST (ESPN)
The Nets have youth on their side (and an enthusiastic new crowd, after relocating to Brooklyn this season with the help of part-owner Jay-Z)—but the Celtics have experience. Tensions will be high after the brawl that broke out during the Nets’ road victory last month.

New York Knicks at LA Lakers — 12 noon PST (ABC)
NY has been rolling (even with goggled behemoth Amar’e Stoudemire on the bench), while LA has had a tough time coalescing (a serious test of Kobe’s zen) due to new personnel. Their saving grace may be the return of legendary point guard Steve Nash (with a sharp new haircut, too boot).

Oklahoma City Thunder at Miami Heat — 2:30pm PST (ABC)
A rematch of last season’s Finals—and potential preview of this year’s, as each team narrowly leads its respective Conference in the standings. Should be close…as long as Lebron and Durant don’t start comparing notes on whose movie was cooler.

Houston Rockets at Chicago Bulls — 5pm PST (ESPN)
Last year’s Finals-favorite Bulls are faring admirably, despite still being sans MVP Derrick Rose—but are only a game ahead of Houston, who are surprising everyone thanks to acquiring phenom Jeremy Lin and former Sixth Man of the Year (and bearded wonder) James Harden.

Denver Nuggets at LA Clippers — 7:30pm PST (ESPN)
Griffin and Chris Paul are insane—but watch for agile big man DeAndre Jordan and off-the-bench killer Jamal Crawford to have highlights, too. Still, the defense-minded Nuggets (now with gold-medalist Andre Iguodala and block monster JaVale McGee) won’t make it easy.

{SHOP NBA SPORTS FAN GEAR}

To bring things back into a menswear realm, if we may, here’s the king of NBA-announcer swagger: hall-of-famer Reggie Miller. That dark, wintery plaid on broad, bold, peak lapels? The guy’s suiting game is as confident as his outside shot. Meanwhile, his finishing touches—a merlot repp tie (cinched in a nice, tight, four-in-hand knot—no ham-fisted double windsors for this pro) and green polka-dot pocket square—are an elegant nod to the holidays.

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Pacific NW Shout-Out: The Miller pics above and below are from a game last week in our Seattle sister-city of Portland, Oregon, where the underdog Trail Blazers beat San Antonio on national TV. The icing on the cake? Craig Sager brought the broadcasting team a pink box full of locally legendary Voodoo Doughnuts at halftime:

Check out our past posts on the NBA’s best- and worst-dressed announcers—and coming soon, look for a retrospective on Reggie Miller’s style highlights from last season.

[Commercial courtesy of the National Basketball Association; images courtesy of the NBA on TNT. Individuals pictured do not endorse Nordstrom.]