Merry Day After Christmas!
The 2013-14 NBA regular season continued on December 25 with a crop of Christmas Day games. There were superstars, championship contenders and a number of clashes between favorites to win their respective conferences.
Here’s everything that you need to know about yesterday’s action.
1. The Miami Heat defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 101-95 in a surprisingly competitive game. Chris Bosh posted 23 points and 11 rebounds, and Dwyane Wade tallied 23, seven assists, six boards and three steals to lead Miami to the win.
Miami has won 19 straight games against the Western Conference. That’s the second-longest streak against the West in NBA history. Only the 1972-73 and 1973-74 Boston Celtics won more with 20 in a row.
2. The Brooklyn Nets made just 25 field goals as the Chicago Bulls earned a 95-78 win over their Eastern Conference foes. Taj Gibson led the charge with 20 points to overcome a surprising 17 from Mirza Teletovic.
Brooklyn hadn’t made 25 or fewer field goals in a single game this year before this dismal effort.
3. Kevin Durant scored 29 points, Serge Ibaka added 24 and Reggie Jackson came up with 18 as the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the New York Knicks 123-94. Carmelo Anthony was out with an ankle injury, but Amar’e Stoudemire (22), Tim Hardaway Jr. (21) and J.R. Smith (20) all scored more than 20 points.
In the end, it wasn’t enough, as Russell Westbrook registered his first triple-double of the year with 14 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists, one block and a steal to lead the Thunder to an NBA-best 23-5.
4. The Houston Rockets earned a 111-98 win over the San Antonio Spurs. James Harden scored 28 points and Dwight Howard recorded 20 rebounds for an NBA-best fourth time. Houston’s starting lineup outscored San Antonio 98-45.
With this win, Houston swept both games in San Antonio for the first time since 2006-07.
5. Chris Paul held Stephen Curry to 5-of-17 shooting, but the Golden State Warriors defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 105-103. Harrison Barnes hit two free throws with 1:08 remaining and Jamal Crawford missed an attempt at the game-winner to give a home team the first victory of Christmas Day in the final game.
CP3 posted 26 points and 11 assists, and Blake Griffin tallied 20 points, 14 rebounds and five assists in defeat. For Golden State, David Lee who finished with 23 points and 13 boards, and Klay Thompson who scored 23 of his own.
Golden State is 17-13 overall and 4-9 against teams above .500.
Bonus Fact: LeBron James scored 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting. He was 6-of-6 in the paint and 1-of-8 outside of it.