The Christmas NBA games offer awaited matchups between powerhouse teams. This Christmas, though, the schedule looked weak. Both Indiana and Portland, the two leaders, were not participating and there were many injured players. Some of the games were okay, or better than okay, while others were disappointing. In what was expected to be the worst game, the Bulls and the Nets faced off, both severely injured, missing Rose, Deng, and Lopez. The game ended with the Bulls managing a victory and the Nets getting booed at. Brooklyn coach Jason Kidd said that, “…right now we are 90 percent bad and so they have every right to boo and express how they feel.” Thankfully, the Knicks and Thunder game was a little better, even though there wasn’t much of a game. The Thunder crushed the Knicks 123 – 94, with Westbrook scoring a triple double, and Carmelo Anthony not playing. Even with Chandler back, the Knicks had no defense, and no chance against the Thunder. Durant and Ibaka also scored big, while Anthony sat disappointed on the sidelines and the crowd booed. The best game of the day was the Heat vs the Lakers. Even though the Lakers were weaker than usual, because of Bryant injured and Howard on the Rockets, they stuck with the Heat until slipping to lose 101-95. The reserve players like Young, Meeks, and Henry played well against the Big Three to make up for their team. Together Bosh, Wade, and James scored 65 points to ensure a win.
The Rockets vs the Spurs turned out to be a solid game, with James Harden boosting the Rockets to victory. The Rockets played very well, picking apart the Spurs’ defense easily and keeping the lead, but the Spurs have not been playing great this season. All of their losses have been to “elite teams”, and they have now lost against the Rockets, which was one of their last chances to have a win against an “elite team”. Although they lost, Ginobili played well during the game managing to score 22 points. The Rockets may have a chance in going to the finals with Lin playing well after his injuries. The final game, which was the Clippers and the Warriors, was expected to be full of anger, due to the bad blood between the teams. That it was, with Blake Griffin getting ejected halfway through the game. There was also a great matchup between Chris Paul and Stephen Curry, both All Stars. Paul scored 26 points and had 11 assists and Curry scored 15 points and had 11 assists, even with Paul closely guarding him throughout the whole game. This was a purely physical game, with a lot of tension, but a good way to end the day.
No one should have been surprised by the mediocre matchups, because the jerseys were just as bad, predicting the lump of coal we got for Christmas.
