Brooklyn Nets an infrequent tradition on Christmas
By Phil Watson
The Brooklyn Nets are idle this Christmas, as they have been every Dec. 25 since 2013. Now in their 52nd season, they’ve played on the holiday just 10 times.
Christmas Day is one of the showcase dates for the NBA, a day that for decades has served as a sort of unofficial opening day of the season for casual fans. But it’s a tradition that has seldom included the various iterations of the Brooklyn Nets.
Now in their 43rd NBA season, the Nets have played on Christmas just nine times, including six consecutive years from 1979-84.
Since moving to Brooklyn, the Nets were part of the NBA’s Christmas festivities in their first two seasons, playing on the holiday in 2012 and 2013, but not since.
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Their other appearance on Christmas came in 2002, the season after the New Jersey Nets made their first NBA Finals appearance.
The franchise has a 10th appearance on Christmas, in one of the rare Christmas Day games conducted by the ABA. In 1968, the New York Nets hosted the Denver Rockets at Long Island Arena in Commack in front of an intimate crowd of 249.
The ABA played one Christmas Day game in 1967, three in 1968, two in 1969, three in 1970, three in 1971 and one in 1973. The ABA skipped the holiday in 1972, 1974 and 1975.
During the run of six straight Christmas appearances by the old New Jersey Nets from 1979-84, five of those games were played against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden — in 1979 and again from 1981-84.
The Nets played on the road in 1980 as well, visiting the Washington Bullets. Their 2002 appearance was a home game against the Boston Celtics.
The two games Brooklyn has played on Christmas have each been at Barclays Center, against the Celtics in 2012 and the Chicago Bulls in 2013.
The Nets are 4-5 in their NBA history on Christmas and have lost their last two, They lost their lone ABA game played on Dec. 25.
Here are the appearances by the Brooklyn Nets franchise on Christmas Day, chronologically for the six losses, with the four victories listed by personal preference.
Enjoy and have a Merry Brooklyn Nets Christmas!