Christmas Day is chock full of great NBA matchups. The Houston Rockets and in-state rival San Antonio Spurs meet up again in a battle between the Southwest Division's top two teams tonight at 8pm. You can view the game online on ESPN. The Spurs may have been given an early Christmas present with James Harden being a game time decision for the Rockets. However the return of Jeremy Lin should help in case Harden misses the game.

Harden is a thorn in the Spurs' side. Over the past four matchups the dynamic guard has averaged 30.5 points per game against San Antonio. If Harden laces up, hopefully his sprained ankle doesn't impact his explosiveness a whole lot.

Houston looks to better its 18-11 record and chip away at the 22-6 Spurs four and a half game division lead. Doing so will be especially hard with the rash of injuries the squad has experienced. Houston has also dropped three of its last four. Coincidentally, the Spurs have won their past three out of four games. They also have bragging rights since they beat Houston back at home on Nov. 30, 112 to 106. Clutch fourth quarter shooting and the terrific guard play of Tony Parker clinched the victory for the Spurs.

"We won that game because of Tony Parker's aggressiveness," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "His juice; his aggression all night long. And we made some 3s in the fourth quarter. Those are the two reasons we won the game."

Popovich can only hope that the team will come out swinging and put up some points early on. In the previous game against the Rockets they only managed to hit three of their first 16 from beyond the arc until their surprising fourth quarter surge. Their current season has been much more consistent then that one game however. Led by Tony Parker's 18.1 points per game the Spurs are averaging over 103 points on the season.

With Houston's Dwight Howard lurking underneath the rim, San Antonio may have to play long ball. Howard is the best center in the NBA and is having a great bounce-back year after a wasted year with the Los Angeles Lakers. You should expect the nearly 7-foot-tall center to take a majority of the team's shots in Harden's presumed absence. Howard should also grab a ton of rebounds as he averages 13.3 on the year.

Which squad are you rooting for? Will Howard have another monster double-double performance? Let us know what you think in the comments below.