The winners and losers of the NBA’s Christmas extravaganza
The NBA’s five-game slate on Christmas Day had a little bit of everything: playoff rematches, superstar showdowns, technical fouls and several second-half comebacks, not to mention a 41-point triple-double in an overtime win. With so much to sift through across more than 12 hours of basketball, here’s a rundown of Sunday’s winners and losers.
1. Winners: Boston Celtics
Boston’s first rough patch of an otherwise-charmed season began with a nationally televised loss to the Golden State Warriors on Dec. 10, a disheartening blowout in which Jayson Tatum’s play left much to be desired. The Celtics then lost four of their next five games against opponents of varying quality. To say that Boston needed a statement win against the Milwaukee Bucks on Christmas would be going too far, but Tatum and company would have faced some serious questions if they had dropped another high-profile game against a recent playoff foe, this time at home.
Instead, the Celtics got a dream result with a 139-118 win, lighting up the Bucks’ vaunted defense with hot shooting from outside and getting an excellent individual performance from Tatum, who looked far more comfortable scoring 41 points against Milwaukee than he had against Golden State. Sunday felt like a rerun of last season’s playoff series, which saw Boston outlast Milwaukee in seven games with balanced offense and just enough defense to overcome Giannis Antetokounmpo. The thoroughness of the Celtics’ victory should make it clear that their recent rut was just a blip on the radar.
2. Loser: Giannis Antetokounmpo
Antetokounmpo commanded a significant amount of defensive attention from Boston, and he couldn’t consistently find the right counters. The court shrinks quickly around him when he can’t keep defenses honest with his jumper, and he often resorted to bully-ball against the Celtics, who have spent years attempting to wall him off from the rim.
Bottling up and frustrating Antetokounmpo has been the key to short-circuiting the Bucks in playoff losses to the Toronto Raptors, Miami Heat and Celtics. To avoid a similar fate this season, the Bucks shouldn’t pin all their hopes on Khris Middleton, who was crucial to their 2021 title run and who missed Sunday with knee soreness. More help is needed, and Milwaukee should pursue additional upgrades on the wing before the trade deadline.
3. Winners: Golden State Warriors
Stephen Curry, clad in a green suit and a black turtleneck, had every reason to like what he saw during the Golden State Warriors’ 123-109 beat down of the Memphis Grizzlies at Chase Center. Rather than rolling over without their superstar, Golden State’s tenacious defensive spirit and championship mettle proved to be more than enough to pull off an upset against a Memphis team that entered as heavy favorites.
The Warriors’ approach to the Grizzlies has been to live with Ja Morant’s individual brilliance while trying to limit his supporting cast. They executed that plan perfectly on Christmas, maintaining firm control of the game from start to finish while fueling the hard feelings between the two teams with incessant trash talk. Klay Thompson, who got a technical foul for taunting Dillon Brooks, said it was “a good night to send a message” because the two teams might square off again in the playoffs. If that matchup does take place, Memphis must find better scoring balance and maintain its composure when faced with Golden State’s intimidation tactics.
4. Losers: Jaren Jackson Jr. and Dillon Brooks
The Grizzlies came undone in part because of their relative inexperience compared to the likes of Thompson and Draymond Green. Jackson was an obvious weak link, as he was limited to just 21 minutes by severe foul trouble, which has been a recurring issue throughout his career.
Brooks, meanwhile, was a nonfactor for most of the night, as the Bay Area fans delighted in booing his every move in response to his flagrant foul that injured then-Warriors guard Gary Payton II during last year’s playoffs. In the closing minutes, Thompson stood over Brooks and delivered what he called some “good old-fashioned trash-talking.”
No stranger to exchanging barbs himself, Brooks coped with a tough night by pointing the finger at the officials. “F—-ing up calls, putting the wrong guys on the free throw line, like it was a circus,” he said. “Should have had different refs.”
Granted, the referees weren’t great, but they still outperformed Morant’s supporting cast by a comfortable margin. There should have been no excuses or scapegoats from Memphis’s side.
5. Winner: De’Anthony Melton
The holiday stage allowed Melton to remind the world that he’s having a career year for the Philadelphia 76ers. The 24-year-old guard arrived from Memphis in an offseason trade, and his shooting and defense have proved especially useful with Tyrese Maxey sidelined. In a 119-112 road victory over the New York Knicks, Melton drilled five three-pointers for 15 points.
Joel Embiid and James Harden took over for the 76ers in crunchtime, bringing home the team’s eighth straight win. Yet Melton, whose move to the starting lineup has coincided with more focused team defense from the 76ers, helped keep Philadelphia within striking distance with his big shooting night.
6. Loser: RJ Barrett
Two of New York’s Big Three showed up in Sunday’s loss: Julius Randle scored a team-high 35 points, while Jalen Brunson posted 23 points and 11 rebounds. The third member of the trio, Barrett, tallied 17 points and 10 rebounds, but he shot just 6 for 21 from the field and struggled to get anything easy. Despite an eight-game winning streak earlier this month, it’s hard to take the Knicks too seriously because Barrett, the franchise’s highest draft pick in recent years, has yet to show consistent flashes of stardom.
Indeed, the 22-year-old Barrett has topped out at useful but not especially efficient, while the two players selected above him in 2019 – Morant and Zion Williamson – are already established superstars. There’s still time for Barrett’s game to blossom, but it’s alarming that his contributions haven’t picked up since he’s been paired with Brunson, a savvy organizer and setup man.
7. Winner: Christian Wood
Luka Doncic understandably got all the headlines for the Dallas Mavericks’ 124-115 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers thanks to his 32 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. Yet Wood, who added 30 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, shouldn’t get lost in the shuffle.
The Mavericks have struggled to find shooting and consistent sources of secondary offense, and Wood helped carry them through some early dry spells against the Lakers. Though his shaky defense led Dallas Coach Jason Kidd to cast him in a reserve role to open the season, Wood’s recent promotion to the starting lineup could create more opportunities for the versatile big man to leave his mark.
8. Loser: Lakers GM Rob Pelinka
As Doncic received just enough help from Wood and Tim Hardaway Jr., LeBron James got a whole lot of nothing from his supporting cast. A strong performance by James in his record-setting 17th appearance on Christmas was squandered on another night when the Lakers struggled to function without injured star Anthony Davis.
James started alongside four Lakers who were acquired last summer: Dennis Schroder, Lonnie Walker IV, Patrick Beverley and Thomas Bryant. Remarkably, James outscored all four of them combined, 38-32. Sure, Russell Westbrook scored 17 points off the bench, but the Lakers were outscored by 30 points in his 24 minutes. It’s getting harder and harder to find a winning move from Pelinka since the Lakers won the 2020 title, and the franchise faces an uphill climb just to make this year’s play-in tournament.
9. Winner: Jamal Murray
Anyone who called it an early night before the Denver Nuggets’ 128-125 victory over the Phoenix Suns made a huge mistake. Not only did Nikola Jokic record just the fourth game of 40 points, 15 rebounds and 15 assists in NBA history, but Murray scored 14 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter, including a game-tying dunk in the final seconds of regulation.
Conventional wisdom suggests that it’s easy to play with Jokic, a brilliant passer who makes his teammates better. But winning at a high level with a player of Jokic’s ability requires self-assured co-stars capable of making big plays themselves rather than just watching him do it all. The Nuggets missed Murray’s shot-making and composure when he was sidelined with a knee injury last season, and they got a nice reminder of his game-changing abilities alongside their franchise center on Sunday. As Jokic and Murray proved during the Bubble, their two-man game can be a thing of beauty.
10. Loser: Devin Booker
Credit to Booker for giving it a go on Christmas despite a groin injury that had sidelined him for Phoenix’s previous three games. Unfortunately, the three-time all-star made it only four minutes against Denver before he had to call it a night.
The timing here couldn’t be worse: Booker is in the midst of an impressive run with a pair of 50-point games in the past month, and the Suns have now lost eight of their last 11 games. While the injuries to Curry and Davis have gotten more attention, an extended absence for Booker could certainly impact Phoenix’s playoff seeding in the West’s tight standings. Chris Paul hasn’t performed anywhere near an all-star level this season, and the Suns don’t have any other guards capable of creating quality shots like Booker.