🏀 Last Night’s Action
An unfortunate record, OT Heroics, and a vintage throwback performance

🎄NBA Christmas Classics
The hoops history spotlight gets festive!

📺 What We’re Enjoying
Our all-time favorite NBA Christmas commercial…

Cade inspires hope in Pistons record-setting, 118-112 loss to Nets

There’s plenty of talk about Detroit’s (2-28) unfortunate new place in the history books, so we’ll try to focus on the bright side and say that Cade Cunningham (41 PTS) is a special player who’s truly starting to live up to that #1 pick potential. Brooklyn (15-15) overcame a shaky start to take home the W thanks to some sharp shooting from Cam Johnson (23 PTS) and a dominant bench performance from Day’Ron Sharpe (11 REB, 4 BLK).

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DrumGod delivers masterpiece to lead Bulls past Hawks 118-114

It’s time to put the word out there: the Chicago Bulls (14-18) are back up after winning four of their last five, this one over the Hawks (12-18) thanks to some clutch footwork from DeMar DeRozan and a simply vintage performance from Andre Drummond (24 PTS, 25 REB). He’s no dictator, but DrumGod’s control of the boards was downright totalitarian, securing the most rebounds of any player in a single game this season. 💪

Thunder decimate Timberwolves in 129-106 statement W

Some wins are run-of-the-mill regular season victories… this was not that; a downright dominant Thunder (19-9) squad sliced and diced the #1 defense in basketball for four straight quarters. The Timberwolves (22-7) have been excellent all year but they had no answers for OKC who forced 20 Wolves turnovers, had four starters score 20+ points, and were led by another spectacular SGA showing (34 PTS, 9 AST). OKC fans are eating good. 🍽️

Hali and Sengun duel as Pacers take down Rockets 123-117

Two of the more surprising teams (for all the right reasons) in the NBA this season, the Pacers (15-14) and Rockets (15-13) can both take away plenty of positives from this one. Despite the loss, Houston forced 20 turnovers and got a stellar showing from Alperen Sengun (30 PTS, 16 REB). Unfortunately for the Rockets, Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton (33 PTS, 10 AST) was on one… his red-hot shooting wound up being the difference-maker for Indy.

Grizzlies and Pelicans trade blows in 116-115 OT Showdown

All we know is that Celtics fans must be feeling pretty bittersweet after watching this Marcus Smart (5 STL) masterclass. The former DPOY was anywhere and everywhere in the clutch, helping the Grizzlies (10-19) erase a 15-point second-half deficit to the Pelicans (17-14). This sick lob to Ja Morant (31 PTS) to ice it was just the cherry on top.

Elsewhere

Magic 129, Wizards 117 - Franz Wagner (28 PTS, 9 AST) was a lightning rod of positivity with a game-high +26, and rookie PG Anthony Black (23 PTS) flashed his top-ten pick potential with a new career-high to help the Magic (18-11) beat the struggling Wizards (5-24).

Jazz 130, Spurs 118 - In a battle of promising European big men, Lauri Markkanen (30 PTS) ran the Spurs (4-25) Victor Wembanyama ragged to help the Jazz (13-18) continue what has been quietly a successful streak. Don’t look now, but they’ve won six of their last eight. 👀

Blazers 130, Kings 113 - In a classic “the NBA is unpredictable” game, the Blazers (8-21) torched the Kings (17-12) despite losing nine of their last ten. More good news for Portland fans, Scoot Henderson (17 PTS, 11 AST) had the best game of his young career.

Clippers 113, Hornets 104 - After back-to-back rough losses, the Clippers (17-12) got back on track against the Hornets (7-20) in a game that was even closer than the scoreline indicated. James Harden looks more comfortable in LA with each passing game…

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NBA Christmas Classics 🎄

On a special edition of the NBA History Spotlight, let's take a moment to look through some of the most iconic Christmas Day moments in league history. But first, a bit of holiday trivia.

• Any good NBA list has to start with an absolutely ridiculous Wilt Chamberlain stat line. The Big Dipper DOMINATED the holidays in 1961 with 59 points and 36 rebounds. The craziest part? Those numbers are barely higher than his season averages...

• From 1984 to 1986 the Christmas Knicks were must-watch television. In 84’, underrated legend Bernard King scored a Christmas-day-record 60 in a loss to the crosstown Nets. Next year’s number one overall pick Patrick Ewing orchestrated a 25-point comeback over the reigning champion Celtics. Finally, in 86’, Ewing again was the hero, hitting a buzzer-beating putback to take down Michael Jordan’s Bulls. Just look at these scenes:

🥹 Anything is posibleeee!!!
We love seeing Brandin Podziemski thrive.

🤣 Scott Foster Shenanigans 
Scott had way too much fun making this call.

🎅 Luka or Santa?
The Mavericks star gives gifts to the whole squad.

What We’re Enjoying

An Iconic Christmas Commercial: Don’t get out the pitchforks just yet! We know that Jingle Hoops rocks, but for our money the best NBA Christmas commercial of all time has to be 2011’s The Greatest. Watching players from different eras face off gives us chills every time.

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