LeBron and KD are working Christmas Day.
At 9 p.m. ET, the Los Angeles Lakers will go toe-to-toe against the Houston Rockets in the fourth of five NBA games today.
Although both teams are relatively evenly matched, Durant’s club may have the upper hand due to Los Angeles’ Luka Dončić’s leg contusion injury that he came down with this past Saturday against the Clippers.
Reports suggest he could be back for this holiday showdown but whether he’s at 100% is yet to be seen.
“The worst thing about sports is injuries,” James said. “…you control the controllables, but what we have out there, whoever is in uniform, we have to go out and execute at the utmost pace that we can, and on the other end, we got to defend on a string and help each other out.”
Rockets vs. Lakers: what to know
- When: Dec. 25, 9 p.m. ET
- Where: Crypto.com Arena (Los Angeles, California)
- Channel: ESPN
- Streaming: DIRECTV (try it free)
This will be the first time these Western Conference juggernauts meet this season; they’ll suit up again at Houston’s Toyota Center for back-to-back games on March 16 and 18.
Rockets vs. Lakers start time:
The Rockets vs. Lakers Christmas game tips off at 9 p.m. ET tonight (Dec. 25).
How to watch Rockets vs. Lakers for free:
If you don’t have cable, you’ll need a live TV streaming service to stream the game for free.
DIRECTV is our top pick for watching basketball live for free — its five-day free trial includes ESPN (plus every other channel you’ll need for the NBA season including local channels). When the trial is over, you’ll pay as low as $49.99/month and gain access to over 90 live channels.
If you aren’t ready to commit to a full-on subscription, you can try a Sling Orange Day Pass. Priced at $4.99, you’ll get 24 hours of access to all Sling TV Orange has to offer, including ESPN. Sling also offers weekend and week-long passes for its Orange plan, which offer between three and seven days of access.
2025-26 NBA season key dates
- Jan. 15: NBA Berlin Games (Magic vs. Grizzlies)
- Jan. 18: NBA London Games (Magic vs. Grizzlies)
- Jan. 20-24: NBA Rivals Week
- Feb. 1: NBA Pioneers Classic (Bucks vs. Celtics)
- Feb. 5: Trade deadline
- Feb. 13-15: NBA All-Star Weekend
- April 12: Regular season ends
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
