Usually, when we get to the NBA Christmas Day list, the teams are on a good pace, having recorded six weeks of a normal season. This is not a normal season. Friday’s Christmas slate featured 10 teams playing just their second game after the bubble playoffs’ quick turnaround.
This was shown in several ways. Much sloppiness needs to be cleaned on several fronts. The Warriors look like a trash fire. Pelicans are sometimes holding onto the ball and holding their breath. But mixed with a series of sensational performances.
The Nets look fantastic in two games. The Lakers and Heat were great at Christmas to overcome their weak openings. Altogether, the games themselves were not terribly competitive at Christmas, with all five ending with double-digit margins. Therefore, we think it is better to focus on the best individual performances of the day. In order, here they are.
Irving said he would let his game speak this season, and so far it is being heard loud and clear. Irving led the way when Brooklyn turned the gap deficit into a loss in Boston, with 20 of their 37 points, the game’s best mark in the second half, including 11 in the fourth period. He hit 13 out of 21, including 7 out of 10 out of three and 4 out of 4 on the line. He added eight assists and six rebounds to make sure. He was brilliantly efficient, scoring almost entirely from behind the bow or in the paint while he and Kevin Durant played my-turn-your-turn to perfection.
Williamson was incredible in the loss of New Orleans to the Heat, which ended up being the most disputed game of the day, ending with 32 points and 14 rebounds, the record of his career, for the second double-double in so many games. Zion joins LeBron James as one of the two players in history to score at least 30 points at Christmas before turning 21. He is a force beyond words. When he gets to your left, forget it, and he has a knack for going left, although everyone knows he is trying to do just that. Your second jump is a revelation. He’s a tremendous cutter. And he can look up and take you off the dribble, put you in a rotation cycle or go straight through you. He did it all for Christmas; it just wasn’t enough.
Middleton dissected the Warriors to 31 points, five assists and four boards on 10 of 15 shots, including 6 of 8 from beyond the arc and 5 of 5 from the line, relegating Giannis Antetokounmpo’s relatively pedestrian performance to a footnote while Milwaukee rolled . Middleton was aggressive to score from the jump, causing most of his damage in the first half (21 points out of 4 out of 6 in depth) before the game got ridiculously out of control. In two games, Middleton has averaged 29 points, 9.0 rebounds and 6.5 assists in 57 percent of pitches, including 56 percent in the 3-point range. Hi.
Davis was a surgeon in the Lakers’ victory over Dallas, scoring 28 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two blocks as easily as anyone can leave a line like that. He started with fire and finished 10 of 16 shots, including 3 of 5 on the free-throw line. The ease with which Davis can get to his place and stand over anyone is honestly starting to look like Kevin Durant, and I don’t say that lightly.
5. Kevin Durant
Durant scored 16 of Brooklyn’s 35 points in the third quarter, which turned a three-point deficit at halftime into a nine-point lead before the fourth game, when Irving drew. Durant finished with 29 points in just 16 kicks, hitting 3 in 4 from bottom. He showed a really impressive defense at Jayson Tatum, and put the ball on deck and exploded to the edge with ease as the evidence continued to grow that Durant was totally back to what he was. Durant and Irving were both 31 more in the game. This is no joke against a team like the Celtics.
Screams
- Brandon Ingram: 28 points out of 4 out of 8 in the 3 point interval; kept New Orleans afloat by hitting the line 11 times, sinking 10
- Lebron James: 22 points and 10 assists; moved to second place of all time in Christmas points, behind only Kobe Bryant
- Duncan Robinson: Christmas record six points from 3 points in the first half, finished with seven marks in the city center
- Goran Dragic: 18 points out of 6 out of 11 shots; entered the painting at will; Warm up over-21 in your minutes
- Jaylen Brown: 27 points, but needed 25 shots
- Paul George: 23 points, 5 out of 9 beyond the arc, time-high plus-14
- Nikola Jokic: 24 points, 10 assists, nine rebounds on a footnote near the triple-double