The NBA on Christmas Day

Every year when Christmas rolls around, the TV schedule gets filled with plenty of fun and childish Christmas movies and specials.  The programming usually changes from one year to the next, but there are always two definite viewings that I can expect for each holiday season.  One is 24 hours of A Christmas Story on TBS.  The other is an all-day line-up of great NBA basketball.

While the NFL always gets it’s run of games on Thanksgiving and the NHL has the Winter Classic for New Year’s, Christmas Day games have belonged to the NBA since the mid-'40s.  The league always schedules great matchups, too.  Some of the most memorable moments of recent years in the NBA have come during Christmas day games.  Here are a few of my favorite games that have taken place on December 25.

2002 – Orlando Magic vs. Detroit Pistons

This was the season in which Tracy McGrady’s game was at it’s absolute peak, and this game was one of his finest performances that year.  T-Mac finished the game with 46 points and 3 steals.  Grant Hill also got the best of his old team, racking up 10 points while pulling down 15 boards against one of the toughest rebounders of the decade, Ben Wallace.

Sure, I was upset to see my beloved Pistons lose on Christmas.  Detroit eventually got their revenge on Orlando though, coming back from a 3-1 deficit to eliminate the Magic during the first round of the playoffs that same season.

What I remember most about that game though was one of the fans in attendance.  It was a teenage boy who had survived the Washington, D.C. sniper attacks of 2002.  McGrady invited the young man to site courtside for that game, and it was really a great showing of kindness by an outstanding NBA athlete.

2002 – Los Angeles Lakers vs. Sacramento Kings

Typically, the headlining game on Christmas is the first rematch of the previous seasons’ NBA Finals.  Instead, this particular year’s main event was a showdown between the previous season’s Western Conference Finals contenders, which was quite possibly the best playoff series I’ve ever witnessed.

The Lakers, donning white jerseys for the first time in over 30 years, came up short against their in-state rival, losing 105-99.  Chris Webber went off for 25 points, 15 rebounds and 6 assists.  For LA, Shaq had an outstanding game, recording 27 points, 17 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks, while Kobe Bryant added in 27 points, 15 boards and 6 assists.  Kobe had 6 turnovers as well, and only shot 7-24 from the field.  Regardless, this was another epic battle in one of the greatest NBA rivalries of the new millennium.

2004 – Los Angeles Lakers vs. Miami Heat

Lakers win the tip, Kobe takes the ball outside the arc, drives past Eddie Jones on a screen, takes it inside and Shaq throws the shot to the ground.

I will never forget celebrating that opening play in the first match-up between the former partners that had carried Los Angeles to three consecutive championships.  The whole game didn’t go this way though, as Kobe finished with 42.  Bryant’s next highest stat was his 9 turnovers, and the Heat proved to be too much for him to handle.  Miami went on to win the game 104-102.

2011 – Dallas Mavericks vs. Miami Heat

Many fans despised the Big 3 coming together in the summer of 2010, and watching them lose to the Mavericks in the 2011 Finals couldn’t have been more enjoyable to those individuals.  What was equally entertaining for them was the fact that the Mavericks were presented their championship rings on Christmas day while their defeated opponents were forced to look on.  For the Heat, it served as a disappointing reminder that they had come up short when it mattered most.

In the end, Miami came out on top for this one.  LeBron James loaded up his stat sheet, scoring 37 points while also posting 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks.  This was just the start of what has so far been the best season of his career.

The most important part about this game though, was the fact that it almost didn’t happen.  After a lockout delayed the 2011-12 NBA season for many months, the owners and players of the league eventually came to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement just in time for us fans to still get our annual dose of NBA basketball on Christmas.

This year we get 5 games for the holiday, including the first meeting between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Miami Heat since last season’s finals and what is sure to be a showdown between the New York Knicks and the Lakers, with Bryant playing in his NBA record 15^th Christmas game.  As usual, my Christmas wish will be a Lakers loss.  More importantly though, I hope to see a great day of NBA basketball and for a Merry Christmas to be had by all.  Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and yours!