THIS year’s NBA Christmas games featured debutants Victor Wembanyama and Anthony Edwards, as well as several competitive matches between league rivals and postseason contenders.
Wembanyama and Edwards, two of the league’s and world’s brightest basketball prospects, made their Christmas game debuts on Thursday (Philippine time).
‘Wemby,’ on the other hand, lost narrowly, whilst ‘Ant’ managed to win on Christmas. Nonetheless, both young players did not disappoint, especially given this year’s difficult match lineups.
The ‘Wemby’ and ‘Ant’ show
Wembanyama and the young San Antonio Spurs lost to Mikal Bridges’ New York Knicks, 117-114, in the first Christmas Day game this year, at Madison Square Garden.
The France native had a solid night, scoring 42 points, grabbing 18 rebounds, and blocking five shots. However, Bridges’ season-high 41 points were more than enough to defeat the rookie.
Wemby was also just three points shy of tying NBA Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain’s rookie season record of 45 points in his Christmas debut game in 1959.
Bridges then took the time to praise the 7-foot-3 youngster after delivering an outstanding performance. What surprises the Knicks star is Wemby’s ability to play in any position and location on the court.
“From 40 feet out, from right under the rim, from 15 feet out, he’s just unbelievable, just to see what he’s doing, credit to him and how much work he has put in,” said Bridges.
Edwards, on the other hand, returned home with a better memory of his first Christmas game, as he and the Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Dallas Mavericks 105-99 in the Western Conference Finals.
‘Ant-Man’ led the Timberwolves in scoring with 26 points, eight rebounds, five assists, two steals, and a block in a win over the Mavericks, who were without Luka Doncic.
Despite Doncic’s calf injury in the second quarter, Kyrie Irving kept Dallas in the game with 39 points, five rebounds, and two assists. However, the star guard failed to complete the comeback.
“Kyrie to me is the greatest point guard and so when he gets going, it’s tough to stop him,” said Edwards. “We got a couple of big stops down the stretch and got some buckets so that helped us.”
Hot Christmas night
In other games, Tyres Maxey led the Philadelphia 76ers to a 118-114 victory over the defending champion Boston Celtics, scoring 33 points, 12 assists, four rebounds, and three steals.
LeBron James and Stephen Curry also had a classic heated matchup in the Bay Area, with the Los Angeles Lakers edging the Golden State Warriors 115-113 on an Austin Reaves dramatic basket.
On his 19th Christmas game, James finished with 31 points, 10 assists, and four rebounds, leading the NBA in Christmas Day wins. Curry, who had struggled in previous games, finished with 38 points and six assists.
The Phoenix Suns defeated the Denver Nuggets 110-100 as the last Christmas game, thanks to remarkable efforts from Kevin Durant and Bradley Beals.
Durant finished with 27 points, six assists, four rebounds, two steals, and two blocks. Beal also has 27 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 steals.
Overall, it was a hectic night for the NBA, with all teams planned to play their hearts out throughout the historic night. Despite the fact that it is the season of giving, no team tried to give their opponents an inch.
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