For many basketball fans, the NBA season doesn’t really get started until the annual Christmas Day games. The league does its best to schedule some marquee matchups on Dec. 25, and this year there are some compelling clashes showcased on the holiday. With five games on the schedule, and a few losing their punch due to injury, we look at the three best nba betting lines on Xmas Day.

Boston Celtics at Toronto Raptors
The Celtics ride a three-game winning streak into the holiday and have surpassed the Raptors in the Atlantic Division standings. Boston is very sound defensively and has leaned on that to get them through some tough injuries of late. The Celtics, who hope to have Gordon Hayward on Xmas Day and will be without Marcus Smart due to an eye infection, have given up only 100.7 points per outing to opponents in December.

Toronto limps into the holiday showcase with a long list of injuries to key players. The Raptors will be without Marc Gasol, Pascal Siakam, and Norman Powell - who score a collective 46 points per game or 41% of the Raptors total offense. Toronto has one more matchup with Indiana before a break on Xmas Eve and then facing Boston, which it has covered in eight straight home games against.

Milwaukee Bucks at Philadelphia 76ers
Two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference clash in a 2:30 p.m. ET tipoff. The Bucks are the leaders in the NBA with a 27-4 SU record while going 18-13 against the spread. Milwaukee has just one loss since Nov. 10 and recently cruised to a win over the L.A. Lakers. Defense is the focus for the Bucks, who give up just over 107 points per game on the season but have trimmed that to 102.9 in December.

Philadelphia snapped a three-game slide with a win over Washington on Saturday and has a matchup with Detroit before taking on Milwaukee this Wednesday. The 76ers have struggled offensively, failing to crack the century mark on the scoreboard in three of their last seven games and throwing up an average of only 106 points over their last seven outings. The Sixers lost two of three meetings with the Bucks last season SU and ATS.

Los Angeles Clippers at Los Angeles Lakers
This all-LA matchup is the crown jewel of the Christmas Day schedule. The Clippers took loss to Oklahoma City and Houston recently but it’s tough to tell this team’s motivation at this point in the season. Superstar Kawhi Leonard sat out with a sore knee versus the Thunder and is questionable for Dec. 25 as it top defender Patrick Beverly, who is nursing a groin injury. The Clippers have been fantastic at home this season – 14-2 – and while the purple and gold team is the designated home side, the Clips will be working from their own locker room in the Staples Center.

The Lakers were the hottest team in the NBA until injuries to LeBron James and Anthony Davis started to surface. The Lakers have lost three straight games heading into Xmas Day, with struggles on both sides of the ball. Los Angeles has been terrible from distance during this slide, knocking down less than 32% of their takes from 3-point land. James sat out Sunday’s game with injured ribs but will likely be on the court for the holiday showdown with the Clippers.