NBA Schedule 2018-19 Rumors: LeBron's Lakers Facing Warriors, Celtics-Sixers On Christmas Day

The schedule for the upcoming 2018/19 NBA season will be announced Wednesday but there are already reports about possible games for opening night and Christmas Day.

NBA TV will be airing a special program Wednesday at 2 p.m. EDT to reveal and break down matchups. Opening nights are usually big and according to the Boston Globe's Gary Washburn, there's a good chance fans will get to see the Golden State Warriors take on the Oklahoma City Thunder as well as the Boston Celtics facing the Philadelphia 76ers.

There is no love lost between Russell Westbrook's Thunder and Golden State's Kevin Durant after the latter's departure from Oklahoma in 2016, while the Sixers will look to get revenge against the Celtics who eliminated them in five games in the second round of last season's playoffs.

In addition, with the departure of LeBron James to the Los Angeles Lakers, the Celtics and Sixers, both of whom boast two of the most exciting, young teams in the league, may be battling it out further to reach the NBA Finals this year.

The two Eastern Conference teams are also rumored to play each other on Christmas Day as per Marc Stein of the New York Times — another big night in the NBA schedule.

James and his Lakers side will be playing the Warriors at the Oracle Arena that day as well while Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks travel to Madison Square Garden to take on the New York Knicks.

According to Chris Haynes of ESPN, Damian Lillard's Portland Trail Blazers will also take on Donovan Mitchell and the Utah Jazz.

James has played on Christmas Day 12 times and notably faced the Warriors the last three seasons on the occasion during his time at the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Moving to the Lakers also means the 33-year-old will be facing the reigning champions a lot more during the regular season and Warriors star Stephen Curry expects a heated rivalry between the two California franchises.

"And a whole new-look Laker team with some of the young kids. It should be fun, the Bay Area and L.A. and the whole thing," Curry said Monday. "When I first got into the league [the] Oracle [arena] would be buzzing any time the Lakers came in."

"There probably will be a revolution of Laker fans that are going to try to creep in but I hope Bay Area and Dub Nation we keep control of that competition because we're on top right now," he said.

As of now, the Warriors are the favorites to win a fourth championship in three years and their expected win total in the regular season is 62.5 games. The Houston Rockets are expected to come second in the Western Conference with a win total of 54.5 games while the Lakers and Jazz (48.5) are behind the Thunder (50.5).

Meanwhile in the East, the Celtics are expected to come out on top with 57.5 wins. The Toronto Raptors and Sixers follow behind with both teams expected to win 54.5 games.