Report: Raptors to host Celtics for first-ever Christmas Day game in Toronto

John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

Stockings, presents, turkey ...Raptors? The reigning champs will finally get to show their stuff on the NBA’s most prestigious day.

You asked for it, you got it: The Toronto Raptors will host the Boston Celtics on December 25 as the NBA comes to Canada on Christmas for the first time ever.

The Christmas Day NBA schedule has been seen as a prestige day of games for several years; coming just as the NFL schedule winds down, and without much competition from other major sports on that day, it’s often hailed as the unofficial start of the NBA season.

And the Raptors, despite their tremendous success over the past six seasons, have been absent from the Christmas Day schedule — much to the consternation of many fans — until now.

Guess that’s one of the perks of winning the NBA title, eh?

Now, the Raptors do have some history on Christmas; way back when, in the glory days of 2001, when Vince Carter was taking the league by storm and the Raptors were an up-and-coming power (or so we thought), the team traveled to New York to continue what was a then a nice little rivalry. Of course, that team was already trending downward and so they fell to the Knicks that day; Carter was a miserable 6-for-20 from the field.

This time around, the Raptors are the champs, and are the home team. That makes this the first time an NBA Christmas Day game has ever been played outside of the United States.

You can argue whether or not playing on Christmas matters, you can debate the relevancy of the Raptors when it comes to TV ad revenue, you can argue that the players (and your trusty bloggers!) deserve to have the day off to spend with their families. But the fact is, it is a prestigious day on the NBA calendar, the Raptors are the champs, and it’s pretty cool that the NBA is coming here to help us celebrate.

(Of course, if they’d asked this trusty blogger... I’d’ve told them that Clippers at Raptors would be the sweetest possible Christmas Day matchup!)

So what do you think: Will you be tuning in to Celtics at Raptors on Christmas Day?

Update: That Clippers at Raptors game? It’s December 11.

Christmas is actually coming early!