Christmas Comes Early for Hawks with NBA Schedule Preview

Thanks to the Hawks overachieving during the 2021 NBA Playoffs, they have been rewarded with two notable primetime matchups in an early glimpse of the 2021-2022 schedule.

Bill Streicher/USA TODAY Sports

Christmas Day 1989 was such a long time ago. Spike Lee had just reprised his role of Mars Blackmon for the Nike campaign marketing the Air Jordan 3. That same year he became a season-ticket holder for the Knicks.

Meanwhile, down south, Doc Rivers and Spud Webb were filling out the backcourt for the Hawks. Dominique Wilkins was violently dunking on everyone in his path. And Moses Malone was clearing out the lane. It was a different era.

The Knicks became a fixture on Christmas Day games, while the Hawks spent the holidays at home for the next three decades. Six presidents held office, and way too many Fast and Furious movies came out during that time. It was by far the longest streak for any team in the association. But that finally ends this year.

As the NBA prepares to release the 2021-2022 regular-season schedule, the league office has been teasing premiere matchups. Among the storied franchises and faces of the league, the Hawks took their hard-earned spot.

The @NBA will feature five games on Christmas Day, including a @BrooklynNets and @Lakers matchup 👀 pic.twitter.com/tZ7CZnsj3v

— NBA TV (@NBATV) August 17, 2021

The NBA never misses an opportunity for drama, so naturally, the Hawks are traveling to New York to face the Knicks in Madison Square Garden. The last time the Hawks played in the basketball Mecca, they extinguished the Knicks in the 2021 playoffs.

As luck would have it, Hawks fans had more gifts to unwrap—a primetime matchup against the Dallas Mavericks on October 21 on TNT. Not only have the Hawks been absent from Christmas Day games, but they are often left out of nationally televised games. Just 10 of their games were nationally televised in 2020, up from 2 in 2019 and 1 in 2018.

If the Hawks maintain their current trajectory, they can count on many more primetime matchups with the entire country tuned in to watch. There is a lot to unpack with just these two games. It's enough to keep us occupied through the dog days of summer.

Even better, there will be a flood of new information when the league releases the new schedule in the coming weeks. So keep it locked here for your latest Hawks coverage.