Rip City Project
Fansided

Portland Trail Blazers snubbed from NBA Christmas Day schedule

PORTLAND, OR -DECEMBER 14: Damian Lillard, and Blaze the Trail Cat of the Portland Trail Blazers celebrate the holidays with guest families December 14, 2014 at the Ronald McDonald East House in Portland, Oregon. Lillard hosted the event which included a catered dinner and toys for the facility. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2014 NBAE (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OR -DECEMBER 14: Damian Lillard, and Blaze the Trail Cat of the Portland Trail Blazers celebrate the holidays with guest families December 14, 2014 at the Ronald McDonald East House in Portland, Oregon. Lillard hosted the event which included a catered dinner and toys for the facility. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2014 NBAE (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images)

Reeling off a trip to the Western Conference Finals and a productive offseason, the Portland Trail Blazers were snubbed from the Christmas Day schedule.

Last year, the Portland Trail Blazers, Golden State Warriors, Toronto Raptors and Milwaukee Bucks faced off in the Conference Finals of the 2019 NBA Playoffs. These series helped cap off what had so far been an incredible roller coaster of a postseason.

This year, these teams will return on Christmas Day to face off in the NBA’s slate of prime time games. Well, all except one. The Blazers were snubbed (in typical fashion) from one of the most anticipated nights of the season

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN first reported the disclosed games, with additional announcements coming from Tim McMahon and Malika Andrews. The full list of scheduled games can be found below.

Considering this offseason’s drama, including a battle for control of LA on Christmas Day is a sensible choice and should make for exciting television. Milwaukee taking on Philadelphia could also be a sneak-peek preview of this year’s Eastern Conference Finals.

Meanwhile, the Rockets taking on the Warriors would have been a shoe-in for the Christmas Day schedule two or three years ago, but now seems questionable considering the injuries and roster turnover the Warriors will be dealing with. Toronto will defend their championship against Boston simply because there aren’t any more interesting options on the table in the Eastern Conference.

Most egregious of all, is the inclusion of the New Orleans Pelicans. Pushing Zion Williamson into the limelight makes sense for the NBA, but not at the expense of the Blazers. Especially considering they’ll be taking on the Denver Nuggets, who recently had one of the greatest playoff battles in recent memory with the Blazers just last year.

Robbing the public of rematch between Portland and Denver seems unfair, when the end result will likely be Zion getting blown out by a far superior team with championship aspirations.

It seems the Portland Trail Blazers will have to prove themselves once again this year if they want the chance to jingle bell rock the roof off the Moda Center.