Scheduled
Washington Wizards at Indiana Pacers
2026-27 · Regular season
Dunk the Halls returns for Spurs at Knicks on Christmas Day: Angel joins Stitch, noon ET and 7 p.m. in Cairo
The animated Dunk the Halls feed returns for Spurs at Knicks on Dec. 25 at noon ET (7 p.m. Cairo), with Angel joining Stitch and the Disney crew.
In this article
Nov. 11, 2026 — Christmas Day will have a second way to watch the Spurs at Knicks NBA Finals rematch. Disney, ESPN and the NBA announced on Wednesday that Dunk the Halls, the real-time animated version of an NBA game, returns for a third year on Friday, Dec. 25, at noon ET, which is 7 p.m. in Cairo. The Knicks and Spurs will play the real game at Madison Square Garden, while the animated feed moves every player into a virtual Magic Kingdom, with Angel from Lilo & Stitch joining for the first time.
Dunk the Halls at a glance
| Detail | What we know |
|---|---|
| Game | Spurs at Knicks, 2026 NBA Finals rematch |
| Date | Friday, Dec. 25 (Christmas Day) |
| Tip-off | Noon ET (7 p.m. Friday, Cairo) |
| Real venue | Madison Square Garden, New York |
| Animated setting | Main Street, U.S.A., Magic Kingdom Park, Walt Disney World Resort |
| New this year | Angel, plus Angel’s Halftime Video Dance Party |
| Commentary | Drew Carter (play-by-play), Monica McNutt (analyst), Daisy Duck (sideline) |
| Edition | Third, after the 2024 and 2025 Christmas games |
The first look at this year’s presentation, with Angel and Stitch, posted on X.
Where it airs
The animated presentation will be shown on ESPN2, Disney+, Disney Channel and the ESPN App. The standard broadcast of the same game is on ABC and ESPN, with Mike Breen, Richard Jefferson and Tim Legler calling it and Lisa Salters reporting from courtside. The announcement lists only U.S. outlets for both feeds; how fans outside the United States can watch the animated version has not been announced.
What changes in year three
Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale and Stitch all return. Angel, also known as Experiment 624 and Stitch’s best friend from Lilo & Stitch: The Series, makes her debut and headlines a halftime dance party on a giant video screen in the middle of Main Street, with dancing gingerbread people. Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, Angel and Stitch will also appear in the game itself.
The organizers promise new “Main Street Memories” segments revisiting the dunk contest from the first Dunk the Halls and the Christmas parade from last year, plus new Hidden Mickeys, visual gags and Christmas memories from NBA stars. Santa’s elves return as camera operators, with Santa himself running the SkyCam. The characters will give locker room speeches and decorate a huge Christmas tree, and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will again make an appearance. Disney and NBA trivia is planned, along with a running count of how many churros Goofy can eat.
How the animation works
Each player appears as a motion-tracked animated version of himself, built live from tracking data. The visuals come from Beyond Sports, a Sony company, and the optical tracking from Hawk-Eye Innovations, also part of Sony. That means every dunk, layup and pass on the animated screen is the real play at the Garden, shown as it happens. Carter and McNutt will be animated in the same style and call the game from a virtual Main Street through VR headsets.
The rest of Christmas Day in Cairo time
Spurs at Knicks opens a five-game slate, and all five games air on ABC and ESPN. In December, Cairo is seven hours ahead of the East Coast, so the day runs from Friday evening into Saturday morning in Egypt:
| Game | Local tip-off | Cairo time |
|---|---|---|
| Spurs at Knicks | Noon ET | 7 p.m. Friday |
| Heat at Celtics | 2:30 p.m. ET | 9:30 p.m. Friday |
| 76ers at Lakers | 2 p.m. PT | 12 a.m. Saturday |
| Thunder at Timberwolves | 7 p.m. CT | 3 a.m. Saturday |
| Nuggets at Warriors | 7:30 p.m. PT | 5:30 a.m. Saturday |
The opener matches the reigning champion Knicks and Finals MVP Jalen Brunson against Victor Wembanyama, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, and the Spurs. Every themed night and giveaway around the holiday, including the Warriors’ beanie for every fan at the late game, is in our Christmas week guide, Dec. 21-27, and the rest of the season calendar is in our 2026-27 key dates.
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