NBA Christmas Day Games & Schedule 2013: Heat to Face Kobe-less Lakers

The NBA schedule this Christmas is jam-packed with five exciting games, making the Holiday celebrations even more festive.

The Sports World reports  that the games will start off at 12 noon with Chicago Bulls facing the Brooklyn Nets at the Barclays Center. This will then be followed by the New York Knicks and the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Madison Square Garden. 

At 5 pm, the much anticipated match up between the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers will finally see the light of the coliseum. However, in a sad turn of events, the game would be losing its lustre because of the recent injury sustained by LA superstar, Kobe Bryant. 

The L.A. Times reported that the guard is suffering from a fractured tibia, which may torpedo the playoff hopes of the team. This also adds to a tough year for the 35-year-old All Star, as he had just returned from an eight-month layoff to heal from an Achilles surgery. He is expected to miss six weeks to rehabilitate his injured knee.

Notably though, even with the absence of Kobe on court, ticket sales for the Miami-LA game is surging forward. Ticket prices for the match up is now averaging at $624. According to a report from Forbes, the prices for this game on Christmas Day is set at 128% above the average price for the NBA. 

Another highlight of the Christmas day games are the jerseys and sneakers. Give Me Sport reported the short sleeved Christmas day jerseys for the visiting Miami Heat would be unveiled during the game. These jerseys would be available at $110 a jersey at individual team's retail outlets on NBAStore.com.

When asked about wearing sleeved jerseys, reigning NBA MVP LeBron James said, "We all warm up in shooting shirts so I don't think it's an ussue. In practice, I wear a shirt."

Other Christmas Day games are the Houston Rockets playing the San Antonio Spurs in San Antonio and the L.A. Clippers playing at the Oracle Arena against home team Golden State Warriors.