What we learned about each team that played on NBA Christmas Day 

For NBA fans, there’s more gifts than what is just under the tree every Christmas. Each year the NBA runs a quintuple header on ABC of games featuring the brightest stars and best teams. The holiday is often also a benchmark for how well teams are doing, so I’m here to review what we learned from the five matchups and 10 teams that played this Christmas Day. 

Warriors vs Grizzlies 

Warriors: The Dubs picked up a much needed Christmas Day win without their superstar PG Stephen Curry. In this game, we were more reaffirmed than educated when it came to the Warriors, specifically their young stud Jordan Poole. We were reminded once again that he is an extremely streaky shooter that, when on his game, can hit any shot he takes no matter the difficulty. However, not every aspect was a win, as we saw Klay Thompson continue to show his age and also reaffirm our thoughts by shooting an abysmal 8-25 from the field and 3-12 from three. If the Warriors want to go back to back, they need to be healthy and need Poole and Thompson to be on the good side of streaky. 

Grizzlies: The Grizzlies main weakness showed on Christmas Day; their shooting. Outside of Desmond Bane, the Grizz have no real consistent outside shooting threat getting key minutes. Star PG Ja Morant prefers to get his 30 PPG a night at the rim, and the rest of the Grizzlies core featuring Jaren Jackson Jr and Dillion Brooks are more defensive specialists and play with the classic Memphis “Grit and Grind” mentality. The Grizzlies future is bright but if they want to make the present better, they have to become better from beyond the arc.  

Bucks vs Celtics 

Celtics: The Celtics reminded everyone that they are the defending Eastern Conference Champions with a dominant 21 point victory at home. Star Forward Jayson Tatum gave Boston fans the Christmas present of a 40 point performance. It’s clear Tatum wants that MVP, and he taught us this holiday season that he should be the front runner. 

Bucks: It’s hard to read to deep into this loss for the Bucks as they were without their second best player Khris Middleton. However, even without Middleton, I’m sure Bucks fans wanted to see a better performance than 9-22 from 2 time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. Giannis being prone to being “walled up” on and struggling to score may still be a concern, but there’s no reason to even remotely panic if you’re the Bucks unless they start losing consistently when they’re healthy. 

Lakers vs Mavs

Mavs: The Mavs unveiled their statue of legend Dirk Nowitzki and secured a win on Christmas. A 51 point 3rd quarter propelled them to the win, but the story in the first half is one to take note of. The Lakers forced the ball out of Luka Doncic’s hand at every chance they got and, until the second half, no one stepped up. The Mavericks will not see any significant success until Luka gets help, and that showed for awhile this game and will continue to show throughout the year barring major changes. 

Lakers: The Lakers season is crumbling once again before the All Star break. Anthony Davis is expected to miss a good amount of time with a foot injury, Russell Westbrook continues to be a negative, and outside of Austin Reaves and Lonnie Walker, no one can be relied on to help win them games night in and night out. The message to the Lakers front office was proved needed once again, and that message is to make trades and get LeBron James help while he is still playing at a high level. 

76ers vs Knicks 

76ers: You won’t ever see me buying into the 76ers, even despite this win against the Knicks in their rivalry matchup. Yes, Joel Embiid is good and an MVP candidate, but we already knew that. However, James Harden is still very inconsistent. The basketball world also was reminded why Philadelphia flops every year in the playoffs, as Tobias Harris shot 0-5 from 3. The 6ers were able to get enough from Georges Niang’s outside shooting to win this game, but we know he is also not reliable come playoff time, and the 76ers should not be trusted to win big games come playoff time. 

Knicks: The Knicks are still and seemingly always will be one piece away from being one piece away, and we learned that this Christmas. On a night where Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle put them in a position to win, RJ Barrett didn’t show up. The Knicks seem like a team bound for a .500 record and an early playoff exit unless someone becomes the “one piece”. 

Nuggets vs Suns: 

Suns: Devin Booker exited this game early and at the time I’m writing this we don’t know the full extent of the injury but given he just got back, I can’t imagine this’ll end well. However, I’m going to put that aside to highlight a player that I’ve seen shine at times but showed up again tonight when called on, Landry Shamet. Shamet has made his money hitting 3’s and when he gets hot he is a game changer. He poured in over 30 points vs the Nuggets coming off a career night just a few nights before. If Shamet can continue to light it up even when Booker returns, and Chris Paul can not lose the Suns games with his poor shooting, they have a shot to make another playoff run. 

Nuggets: I know I just said Jayson Tatum taught us he should be the MVP frontrunner but boy Nikola Jokic is simply special. There simply isn’t a guy giving you a 41 point, 15 rebound, 15 assist triple double like Jokic did for Nuggets fans this Christmas. He’s 7’0 with guard skills, tier 1 passing vision, and he can stretch the floor. The Joker may be on his way to reminding us that 3 MVP’s in a row is very possible. 

NBA Christmas Day didn’t disappoint and gave us some great performances and matchups. Now, the teams will look ahead to the remaining 50 or so games left on their regular season schedule in chase of the greatest present of all, the Larry O’Brien trophy.