Suns vs. Warriors and the Biggest NBA Christmas Day Storylines

In the history of the NBA's Christmas Day extravaganza, never has there been a greater, more dire need for a "What should we be watching?!" primer.

Surging COVID-19 cases and entries into the league's health-and-safety protocols are ravaging rosters beyond comprehension. Big names galore are either slated or overwhelmingly likely to sit out Saturday's showcase, a doom-and-gloom development that significantly, if not hopelessly, dilutes the stakes throughout a number of matchups.

Still, this year's Christmas Day schedule continues to be worth watching. For all the logistical nightmares already on tap or yet to come, the Association does not want for storylines.

Rampant uncertainty is part of the intrigue—or, rather, morbid curiosity. Beyond that, there are real, live, actual on-court questions demanding our attention.

Let's try to add some Christmas cheer to what's rapidly devolved into holiday drear, shall we?

Will There Be Any Major Last-Minute Changes or Absences?

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Commissioner Adam Silver was adamant in an interview with ESPN's Malika Andrews that the league has no plans to "pause" the season or postpone any of the Christmas Day games. He did, however, leave open the possibility of last-minute schedule changes.

Will any start times shift? Could any of the five contests be canceled? This is a terrible waiting game.

Amid the raging uncertainty, though, one thing's for sure...unfortunately: Marquee stars will miss the action.

New players are entering health and safety protocols every day, but as of now, here's the list of bigwigs and other key names at risk of not exiting them in time for tip-off:

• Atlanta Hawks at New York Knicks: Trae Young, Clint Capela, Danilo Gallinari, Lou Williams, Immanuel Quickley, Nerlens Noel
• Boston Celtics at Milwaukee Bucks: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Al Horford, Josh Richardson, Grant Williams, Donte DiVincenzo
• Golden State Warriors at Phoenix Suns: Jordan Poole, Andrew Wiggins, Damion Lee
• Brooklyn Nets at Los Angeles Lakers: Kevin Durant, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, LaMarcus Aldridge, Paul Millsap, Malik Monk, Trevor Ariza, Kent Bazemore, Avery Bradley
• Dallas Mavericks at Utah Jazz: Luka Doncic, Tim Hardaway Jr., Maxi Kleber, Reggie Bullock

This says nothing of the stars who could miss their Christmas Day showcase with an injury. Anthony Davis (MCL sprain) is out for the foreseeable future. Kristaps Porzingis (toe) remains day-to-day for the Mavs. Klay Thompson isn't coming back from his Achilles rehab until January.

I believe I speak for everyone when I say: Bleck.

Will Anyone from the 10-Day-Contract Player Pool Go Kaboom?

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Players on 10-day contracts are being added to rosters almost hourly at this point. It can make for unrecognizable rotations and on-court products, and the idea of glorified temp workers subjecting themselves to the same risk as better-compensated players on longer-term guaranteed contracts is at least a little unsettling, if not outright alarming.

On the bright side (or something), this influx of 10-day deals coupled with mounting absences should ensure at least one memorable performance from the pool of fringe-NBA players.

Does Isaiah Thomas go off for the Los Angeles Lakers, in what, theoretically, is the final day of his pact? Could Langston Galloway or James Ennis III catch fire from deep if all of the Brooklyn Nets' top scorers are out?

Theo Pinson racked up 22 minutes in his debut for the Dallas Mavericks, and head coach Jason Kidd closed the team's Dec. 21 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves with 10-day-contractee Marquese Chriss instead of an incumbent big. Could one of them explode?

Maybe CJ Miles strokes a bunch of threes for the needs-light-out-shooters Boston Celtics. Maybe Damyean Dotson reendears himself to New York Knicks fans with a standout defensive effort. Maybe Shaquille Harris makes a ruckus for Brooklyn. Maybe Jemerrio Jones gets actual minutes for the Lakers.

Perhaps someone, or someones, on a 10-day contract turns in a Christmas Day performance that earns them a rest-of-the-season deal...somewhere...anywhere. Please?

How Small Will the Lakers Play Without Anthony Davis?

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This space should be dedicated to a LeBron James vs. Kevin Durant spiel. Instead, we're left to mull how the Los Angeles Lakers will play without Anthony Davis.

Fellow bigs Dwight Howard and DeAndre Jordan are both available. The Lakers will use them. But they will be forced, compelled and, maybe, downright ecstatic to downsize for stretches.

During their Dec. 21 loss to the Phoenix Suns, this meant a fleck of LeBron at center and spurts in which Carmelo Anthony or Trevor Ariza operated as the de facto 5. There were also reps in which the Lakers rolled out Russell Westbrook, Isaiah Thomas and Rajon Rondo at once.

Who knows what they'll cook up next?

Ditching the Russ-IT-Rondo trio is a great place to start. They were a net plus in only one of their four combinations—and it was the lone lineup with LeBron.

Big-free minutes will be the most interesting for L.A. regardless of what the Brooklyn Nets look like. The Lakers are a plus-3.3 points per 100 possessions on the season without a true center, and that number climbs to plus-9.0 when Melo and LeBron populate the frontcourt.

Thrusting LeBron into a higher-volume big man's role may prove prohibitive. But the Lakers gain some tactical advantages when he's setting ball screens or defending rival tall people, and he sounds game to up his volume as a pseudo-big. Good thing, too. Because, right now, neither he nor the Lakers have much of a choice.

How Will Dallas Handle Rudy Gobert?

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Kristaps Porzingis vs. Rudy Gobert is a compelling matchup. We might not get it. And even if we do, Porzingis' sub-29 percent clip from three isn't high enough to reliably pull Gobert outside the paint.

Too many people discount Gobert's capacity to guard and make decisions in space, but his job gets a helluva lot easier if Dallas doesn't have a big who can move him away from the hoop. And it might not.

Nobody is worried about Dwight Powell standing behind the three-point line. Maxi Kleber is in health and safety protocols. Willie Cauley-Stein isn't with the team because of personal reasons and doesn't stretch the floor anyway. Moses Brown and Boban Marjanovic don't, either. Marquese Chriss is not the answer.

Losing this element of front-line offense could be disastrous. The Utah Jazz already don't profile as a great matchup for Dallas. They may not have a ready-made answer for Luka Doncic, but he's dealing with an ankle injury, Royce O'Neale exists and, most critically, no team takes a smaller share of its shots at the rim than the Mavs. They'll be even harder-pressed to best a Gobert-piloted defense if he's never yanked from his comfort zone.

There's also the matter of guarding him. The Jazz don't put a ton of collective pressure on the rim, but Gobert is shooting 66.3 percent as the pick-and-roll diver and averaging 1.39 points per putback possession (91st percentile). Dallas is not equipped to tussle with his interior offense—a huge deal when Utah already ranks as the league's most dangerous pull-up shooting team.

Deandre Ayton vs. Draymond Green

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The universe just won't allow us to treat a Golden State Warriors-Phoenix Suns game as the potential Western Conference Finals preview it deserves to be. Their first two meetings, which they split, were not played at full strength. Their Christmas Day showdown looks like it'll see the Dubs soldier on sans Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins because of health and safety protocols, in addition to Klay Thompson (Achilles) and James Wiseman (knee).

Ah, well. At least we get another round of Deandre Ayton vs. Draymond Green.

Ayton poses a unique challenge for the Warriors as a lightning-footed big who has improved his decision-making in space and will work to clean up friendly fires. Green won't always be responsible for tracking him; his role is too all-encompassing for full-time specifics. But Kevon Looney is no match for Ayton's speed—and, judging from his playing time in the first two installments, Golden State knows it.

Green did a nice job of keeping Ayton off the offensive glass in the Warriors' Dec. 3 victory. He also proved integral in forcing Ayton to get the ball farther away from the basket without a head of steam. That job gets exponentially harder when Booker, who missed the Dec. 3 tilt with a hamstring injury, is on the floor.

The Dubs will need help from Otto Porter Jr. and perhaps Juan Toscano-Anderson or even Jonathan Kuminga to keep the pressure on Ayton in Game No. 3. It is a testament to the latter's growth that Golden State may have no collection of answers, Green and all.

Ayton no longer stalls out of his dives to the basket as often and is more prone to go up strong at the rim. He's converting looks at a career-high rate inside three feet and flirting with personal-best efficiency from floater range, including a 56.6 percent clip on hook shots.

This matchup is just as intriguing at the other end. Green's playmaking in transition and off-ball slashes can disarm Ayton in space and at the rim, and he's doing a much better job than seasons past at finishing around the hoop and on in-the-paint-but-outside-restricted-area twos.

Get some popcorn. And maybe an adult beverage. This should be fun.

Unless otherwise noted, stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference, Stathead or Cleaning the Glass and accurate entering Wednesday's games. Salary information via Spotrac.

Dan Favale covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@danfavale), and listen to his Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by NBA Math's Adam Fromal.