The real reason NBA on Christmas was so dope this year
A gift from Silver Claus.
Good morning. Let’s basketball.
Scores
Spurs 114, Knicks 117 — Unreal Christmas Day debut for Victor Wembanyama: 42-18-4-1-4. Unreal performance from Mikal Bridges with 41 including six threes, with 15 points in the fourth. Josh Hart doing Josh Hart things. Donald Duck doing Donald Duck things. Heckuva game. Oh boy.
Timberwolves 105, Mavericks 99 — Luka Doncic left early with a calf strain that frankly doesn’t sound great. After all that, Minnesota built up a 28-point second half lead. Kyrie Irving led the Mavericks back to within one possession. This was nearly an all-time collapse.
Sixers 118, Celtics 114 — One of the best games of the year in terms of story, given the state of the Sixers, the dominance and relentless of the Celtics and the characters involved. Every Tyrese Maxey play feels epic. Joel Embiid had some epic plays. Jayson Tatum went blow for blow. You thought the weight of everything would collapse the Sixers. It didn’t.
A season isn’t turned around in a single game. This is a start, though.
Lakers 115, Warriors 113 — Instant classic.
What a smart decision by Austin Reaves to go inside himself. It’s not my bedtime!
Anthony Davis left early but it doesn’t seem serious. The Warriors are 3-11 over the past month. Steph Curry played in all but two of those games (and one of the DNPs was a win).
Please bottle Richard Jefferson’s disbelieving laughter at Draymond Green trying to get away with this.
Nuggets 100, Suns 110 — Phoenix stops their slide in a defensive struggle. Nikola Jokic looks like a god on the floor and yet Denver lost his minutes. The trade birds are chirpin’.
Two Explanations As To Why These Games Ruled
Explanation No. 1: Christmas and the first night of Hanukkah aligned for just the fourth time in the past century.
Explanation No. 2: PARITY. Also known as competitive balance. Also known as a distinct lack of superpower teams walking in with a major paper advantage before the ball even goes up.
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