THREE teams played the spoiler’s role during the National Basketball Association’s five-game bill on Christmas Day.
“Kill joys” were the Philadelphia 76ers, Washington Wizards and Minnesota Timberwolves as they spoiled their respective opponents’ festivities with victories on the road.
Overcoming a sore back, 7-foot Cameroon native Joel Embiid had a successful Christmas Day debut with 25 points, 16 rebounds, three blocks and three assists in the 76ers’ 105-98 triumph over the New York Knicks at the Madison Square Garden.
It was Philly’s first appearance on December 25 since 2001. The 76ers franchise is 17-13 overall on that day.
Embiid’s counterpart Enes Kanter, the 6-foot-11 Knicks center who was born in Zurich of Turkish descent, was magnificent in defeat, collecting a season-high 31 points and grabbing a career-best-tying 22 rebounds as the Knicks dropped their fifth consecutive game on the holiday to slip to 22-30 overall (the most Christmas appearances by any team in NBA history).
Kanter thus joined Wilt Chamberlain (three times), Bill Russell and Bob Lanier as the only players with a 30-20 game on Christmas. He’s the first player to reach 20 points and 20 boards on the holiday since Moses Malone in 1986.
The Washington Wizards pinned the slumping Boston Celtics with a 111-103 setback in the Green’s first Christmas Day home game in franchise history as Otto Porter Jr. (20) and Kelly Oubre Jr. (16) conspired for 36 markers to negate the combined 40-point output of new Celtics Kyrie Irving (20) and rookie forward Jayson Tatum (20).
The Celtics played for the 31st time on the holiday, with 28 of the previous games on the road and the other two at neutral sites.
With the Los Angeles Lakers missing a pair of starters due to injuries, the Minnesota Timberwolves ran roughshod over their young foes with a 121-104 decision at the Staples Center. Three Wolves tallied 20 points or more – Jimmy Butler (23), Taj Gibson (23) and Karl-Anthony Towns (21 and 10 rebounds.
Lakers rookie Kyle Kuzma, the club’s scoring leader for the season, chalked up 31 points to join LeBron James (2003 with Cleveland) as the only freshmen to score at least 30 points on Christmas Day in the last 30 seasons.
The Lakers, who at 22-22 were unable to break a tie with New York for most Christmas victories, played without rookie playmaker Lonzo Ball (who sprained his left shoulder against Portland on December 23 and will be out at least a week – he gifted dad LaVar with a Rolls-Royce for Christmas) and second-year forward Brandon Ingram (quadricep injury).
In another NBA Christmas Day game, Kevin Durant chalked up 25 points, seven rebounds, three assists and five blocked shots, Klay Thompson made up for Stephen Curry’s absence with 24 points and versatile Draymond Green collected 12 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists for a triple-double as the defending titlist Golden State Warriors rewarded their fans at the Oracle Arena with an afternoon delight by way of a 99-92 success against their co-Finals arch nemesis of the past three years, Cleveland Cavaliers.
Green’s T-D was the ninth by a player on Christmas Day, and the first since Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook turned in the trick in 2013 vs. New York. “The Big O” Oscar Robertson is the only player with multiple T-Ds on the holiday and leads the pack with four of them – Cincinnati vs. Seattle, 1967; Cincinnati vs. St. Louis, 1963; Cincinnati vs. LA Lakers, 1961; and Cincinnati vs. Detroit, 1960.
Other T-Ds on December 25 were recorded by LeBron James (Miami vs. LA Lakers, 2010); Billy Cunningham (Philadelphia vs. Detroit, 1970); and John Havlicek (Boston vs. New York, 1967).
The Cavs, who overcame a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Warriors in seven games during the 2016 Finals, were led by forward-turned center Kevin Love’s 31 points (including six triples) and season-best 18 rebounds and James’ 20 scores, six boards and six dimes.
Westbrook got 31 points and 11 assists to lead the OKC Thunder to a 112-107 decision over the slumping Houston Rockets, who played without All-Star point guard Chris Paul due to a groin strain and lost for a third straight game for the first time this season.
James Harden, the NBA’s leading point-producer who was coming off back-to-back 51-point performances, led the Rockets with 29 points, eight rebounds and 14 assists but he was held to just 7-of-18 from the field.
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