Julius Randle
| PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 25 | 12 | 3 | 9/15 | 6/9 | 1/4 | 1 | 0 |
New York kicks off the holiday with a big win in MSG as the Knicks take down the Atlanta Hawks, 101-87. Julius Randle led the charge with 25 points and 12 rebounds as he had a hot shooting night from beyond the arc to put New York on his back. Alongside him, rookie guard Quentin Grimes and Evan Fournier each scored 15 apiece while Obi Toppin added 13 points off the bench in 13 minutes. But the man of the hour was none other than Kemba Walker. Finishing the game with 10 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists, Walker became the first Knick in franchise history to record a triple-double on Christmas Day. This also makes him the 7th player in league history to accomplish such a feat alongside notable guys like Draymond Green, LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, and Oscar Robertson.
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John Collins
| PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 20 | 8 | 3 | 7/18 | 3/5 | 3/4 | 0 | 2 |
With both Trae Young and Lou Williams unavailable it was up to veteran Delon Wright to take on the starting point guard role. He surely embraced the challenge as he finished with 20 points which were tied for the highest on the team. He also added four rebounds, two assists, and hit 4-of-5 threes. John Collins and Clint Capela did their thing on the boards combining for 26 points and 17 rebounds, but you could just tell that the Atlanta offense could not really get anything going without Trae Young.
Giannis Antetokounmpo
| PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 36 | 12 | 5 | 13/23 | 0/2 | 10/15 | 0 | 2 |
In his return from being sidelined since Dec. 12th due to the NBA’s health and safety protocol, Giannis Antetokounmpo balled out with 36 points to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 117-113 win over the Boston Celtics. Antetokounmpo dominated with 15 free throw attempts and one of his two blocks came in the final seconds of the game to help secure the victory. But the Bucks could not have pulled out this victory if it were not for veteran forward Wesley Matthews, who knocked down a clutch three in the final 30 seconds that would give the Bucks their first lead of the game. Two other little points are that Bobby Portis and Donte DiVincenzo also returned from Covid protocols in this one. Portis finished the game with a double-double with 16 points and ten rebounds. DiVincenzo did not have a great debut with only three points and two rebounds in 15 minutes but it’s good to see him back on the floor considering he has been out since the back half of last regular season due to a foot injury.
Jayson Tatum
| PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 25 | 9 | 4 | 7/20 | 4/10 | 7/8 | 2 | 2 |
Not only did they lose the game, which they had led 95% of the time with a high of 19 points, but they also had a little friendly fire between Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown that now has Brown walking around with half of a front tooth. Nonetheless, the Celtics simply let this one fall through their hands. Tatum and Brown both finished with 25 points apiece. Robert Williams finished with a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds. Marcus Smart nearly had a 20 piece as he finished with 19 points along with seven assists. Even second-year guard Payton Pritchard got in on the action with 16 points, five rebounds, and five assists. Now in defense of Boston, they were without a handful of their guys including Dennis Schroder, Josh Richardson, Grant Williams, and a few others. But in the end, they had control of this game and were unable to close the deal as the Bucks were just better in the clutch.
Stephen Curry
| PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 33 | 4 | 6 | 10/26 | 5/16 | 8/9 | 3 | 1 |
The Golden State Warriors regain the top spot in the NBA as Stephen Curry and Otto Porter led them to a 116-107 win over the Phoenix Suns. Despite being short-handed, the Warriors kept things just close enough going into the 4th and in the end, it was Porter who stepped up to close the deal. Although Curry finished with 33 points, Porter finished with 19 and seven of them came late in the 4th quarter to push the Warriors over the top. Two other big performers for Golden State were Draymond Green and Gary Payton II. Green finished with a near triple-double with eight points, eight rebounds, and ten assists. Payton II finished with 14 points including a monster put-back slam that should get him featured on ESPN’s top plays. One final note is that the 33 points are a new Christmas career-high for Curry and by hitting five threes in this game, he is one three away from 3000 made threes in his career. Got to love Curry man.
Chris Paul
| PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 21 | 6 | 8 | 7/14 | 2/4 | 5/5 | 0 | 0 |
The Suns had the whole gang available for this one but similar to the Bucks-Celtics game, this game came down to late-game execution. Phoenix was outscored in three of the four quarters with the biggest deficit coming in the 4th where they were outscored 32-23. In the backcourt, Chris Paul and Devin Booker combined for 34 points. Deandre Ayton finished with 18 points and seven rebounds on an efficient 8-of-10 shooting from the floor. To round things out, Mikal Bridges had a solid night as well with 17 points and six rebounds. The bright side is the Suns still have a somewhat hefty advantage in the Western Conference standings but it seems that for now, they have to hand over the mantle of “Best Team in the League so far” back over to Golden State.
James Harden
| PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 36 | 10 | 10 | 10/25 | 3/8 | 13/17 | 1 | 3 |
Even with a handful of superstars missing, Brooklyn Nets vs Los Angeles Lakers still lived up to the hype as Nets took down the Lakers, 122-115. This came off of James Harden and Patty Mills putting the team on their back. The backcourt combined for 70 of the team’s 122 points and each dominated in their own way. Harden led the charge with 36 points on a team-high 25 shot attempts, but the main story for him was how he got back to dominating at the free-throw line. Harden finished the game with 17 free throw attempts with the next closest person being LeBron James with only nine attempts. Then there’s Patty Mills who was an absolute flamethrower from three. Mills finished with night shooting 8-of-13 from three and he also hit all four of his free throws. DeAndre’ Bembry and Bruce Brown helped carry the rest as they combined for 31 points and 11 rebounds. Last but not least we can’t forget about Nicolas Claxton, who finished with only nine points and six rebounds, but his biggest bucket came in the form of a downright disrespectful alley-oop poster on LeBron James in the final moments of the game.
LeBron James
| PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 39 | 9 | 7 | 14/25 | 3/9 | 8/9 | 3 | 1 |
LeBron James made history yesterday as he passed the late-great Kobe Bryant to become the NBA’s new Christmas Day leading scorer. Entering the game, he only needed 13 points to do so, but he smashed that by finishing with 39 points to now make his Christmas Day total 422 points in 16 Christmas games. The next closest active player is Kevin Durant who missed this game, but even so, he sits at only 299 points in 11 Christmas games. Nonetheless, the Lakers’ struggles continue as this loss pushes their losing streak to five straight. But they did get some other solid performances that should at least make Lakers fans optimistic. Carmelo Anthony and Malik Monk came off the bench ready to play as they combined for 37 points and Anthony finished with 11 rebounds. Russell Westbrook also had a decent night finishing with 13 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists but he was only 4-of-20 from the field and 0-of-3 from three. Definitely has been tough sledding for Los Angeles but even with all their struggles they still sit in 7th place in the West. So that’s worth something.
Donovan Mitchell
| PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 33 | 3 | 3 | 11/26 | 1/7 | 10/11 | 3 | 0 |
Donovan Mitchell led the way with 33 points as the Utah Jazz took down the Luka-less Dallas Mavericks, 120-116. Despite all the Covid-based absences for the Mavericks, this game was much closer than most anticipated. But in the end, the Utah Jazz were simply the better team. Alongside Mitchell, Bojan Bogdanovic finished with 25 points and Mike Conley added 22 of his own. Utah dominated in the paint with 52 points in the paint to Dallas’ 34. The Jazz have now won 13 of their last 15 games and have been easily the healthiest team in the league as they have not lost a single player to Covid-related absences.
Kristaps Porzingis
| PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | BLK |
| 27 | 9 | 3 | 8/18 | 0/5 | 11/13 | 1 | 2 |
On the other end of the spectrum, while Utah is one of the healthiest teams in the league, the Dallas Mavericks have one of the most depleted rosters in the league. Missing guys like Luka Doncic, Tim Hardaway Jr., Trey Burke, Maxi Kleber, and even Dorian Finney-Smith who actually missed this game to a non-Covid related illness. Yet somehow that only scratches the surface regarding how many guys they have out. Nonetheless, Kristaps Porzingis and Jalen Brunson stepped up big time as they both finished with 27 points apiece. Frank Ntilikina also had an uncharacteristic offensive output as he finished with17 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the field and hit all five of his free throws. The Mavericks have struggled over the last few games going 1-4 in their last five. Hopefully, this team can get healthy soon, but the bright side is that their next four games are against the Portland Trail Blazers, the Sacramento Kings twice, and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Just the kind of stretch to possibly turn their misfortune around.
