How to watch Timberwolves-Nuggets for free on Christmas: Time, streaming

This is the end of the line for Christmas basketball.

After four huge matchups earlier today, Nikola Jokić’s Denver Nuggets will host Anthony Edwards’ Minnesota Timberwolves in the 10:30 p.m. ET nightcap at Ball Arena.

Prior to today, the Western Conference power players have already met twice in the 2025-26 regular season; Denver won both of those contests.

In the first showdown, Jamal Murray popped off for 43 points in a decisive 127-114 victory on Oct. 27. Nearly three weeks later, Denver won 123-112 behind Joker’s 27-point, 12 rebound and 11 assist triple double.

When asked what went wrong for himself and the Wolves that evening, Edwards said “I don’t know. Nothing they did, I just gotta make my shots. Just that simple, yeah, I just missed a bunch of shots. Go to the gym tomorrow, hopefully make them.”

If you’d like to catch this hard-edged hardwood battle on the tube, we have everything you need to know and more below.

Timberwolves vs. Nuggets start time:

The Timberwolves vs. Nuggets Christmas game tips off at 10:30 p.m. ET today (Dec. 25).

How to watch Timberwolves vs. Nuggets 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