Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press
The expectations are always high for the N.B.A.’s Christmas Day games, and the schedule-makers have an unenviable task in deciding which ones will be relevant with more than half the regular season left.
This year’s collection of games is hit-and-miss. Two of the five could be Eastern and Western Conference finals previews, while two others seem likely to be blowouts.
Either way, it will be more than 12 hours of action, and by the end there will be a few teams holding serious bragging rights.
Clippers at Lakers, 8 p.