HO HO HO.

Keith Pompey confirming a Spike Eskin report:

The 76ers will play the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Christmas Day, a source with knowledge of the NBA schedule confirmed Wednesday night. WIP-FM (94.1) was the first to report the news.

The league is expected to announce the matchups for its annual Christmas showcase in the coming days. The games usually feature high-profile matchups.

This has long been rumored and doesn’t come as a surprise. The Sixers will most likely play sometime in the afternoon, with the Eagles-Raiders game coming at night.

Just last year, the notion of the Sixers playing on Christmas was a joke. Now they’ll be one of the few teams to get the special Christmas jersey treatment. Why, yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.

I suspect there will be more Sixers schedule news tomorrow morning.