For the 12th time in his NBA career, LeBron James is set to play in a Christmas Day game with the Cleveland Cavaliers facing the defending champion Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena.
Prior to the contest, James took to Twitter to voice both his appreciation for playing on Christmas Day while also sentiment for being away from his family on the holiday.
Although it is difficult for James let alone anybody to be away from their family on this day, he has had the prime opportunity to continually be one of the select few teams to play to take the court during the holiday. In fact, he has played on this occasion on all but three times in his career.
James will certainly have plenty of motivation going up against the Warriors, who have been the benchmark for the league over the last three seasons. Despite two-time league MVP Stephen Curry not being able to play on Monday, it will be a strong gauge of where the Cavaliers are at this point of the season.
Following a slow start out the gate for the year, Cleveland has found its groove over the last few weeks having won 19 out of their last 21 games that have pushed them to the second-best record in the Eastern Conference. Meanwhile, Golden State has also been one of the league’s hottest winning 11 straight games prior to Saturday’s loss to the Denver Nuggets.
