Thunder can’t wait for Christmas on court

MANILA, Philippines —  Jalen Williams’ plan for Thursday is mapped out like this: Presents in the morning, then a game in the afternoon.

To him, that sounds like an exceptional Christmas.

Williams and the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder – who felt snubbed by the Christmas schedule makers a year ago – are on the league’s slate of showcase games this year, taking on the San Antonio Spurs as part of the annual Dec. 25 quintuple header.

The schedule, with all times Eastern: Cleveland at New York gets things started at noon, followed by the Spurs at the Thunder at 2:30 p.m., Dallas at Golden State at 5 p.m., Houston at the Los Angeles Lakers at 8 p.m. and Minnesota at Denver at 10:30 p.m.

“As a basketball player, I feel like you grow up – actually, if you’re a sports fan, you grow up watching sports on Christmas. To be able to be a part of it is really cool,” Williams said. “What time do we play, 1:30 (Central)? Yeah, we’re like the cool game. Like, 1:30, presents have already been opened and everybody’s kind of watching the games. I’m really looking forward to that.”

For most of the Thunder, it’ll be a first: The only current Oklahoma City players who have scored in a Christmas game are Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso. And it’ll be the second Christmas game for San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama, whose holiday debut last year was a 42-point, 18-rebound effort against New York.