Happy Friday, Enjoyers! This is your official reminder to finish reading the first 48 pages of “The Anxious Generation” this weekend—we’ll have an opportunity for you to give us your questions and comments about the book in Monday’s newsletter to help facilitate Kenny, Pierre, Mike, and Darrick’s discussion on Numbers on the Board the following day!

Now, onto OUR discussion of NBA Christmas…

Today’s Lineup

🎉 Happy birthday to Kevin Ollie, Luka Garza, and Enjoyers Gunner, Camilo, and Lukas! 🎉

Holiday Hoops

Wemby, Mikal shine in Knicks’ 117-114 win over San Antonio

When we say the NBA Christmas slate didn’t disappoint this year, we mean it. Case in point: the first game of the day.

Knicks-Spurs was the definition of back-and-forth—12 ties and 20 lead changes represent the absolute CHAOS between the two teams. And midway through the fourth quarter, with the Spurs up eight, it looked like Victor Wembanyama’s continued dominance (42 PTS, 18 REB, 4 BLK) would bring San Antonio to a win over one of the Eastern Conference’s best.

But then Mikal Bridges (41 PTS) happened, and his 15 4Q points brought the Knicks to a close W. Two electric 40-point performances in the same game: popcorn, anyone?

Shai’s career night leads Thunder over Pacers 120-114

A career-high 45 points. Eight assists. Seven rebounds. Three stocks. 15-22 from the field, 4-5 from three, and a perfect 11-11 from the line. If this wasn’t an MVP-type performance from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, then we don’t know WHAT is.

Indiana led for nearly the entire first three quarters of this game, with Andrew Nembhard (23 PTS, 9 REB, 7 AST) leading the charge and Myles Turner (12 PTS, 11 REB) doing what Myles Turner does. But when the fourth quarter came around, it was Shai, Shai, Shai. What can’t this man do?

Elsewhere around the NBA…

• After Orlando led the way for practically the entire game, a Miami-heavy fourth quarter followed by a game-winning shot from Tyler Herro (20 PTS) pushed the Heat over the Magic 89-88.

• SCOOOOT!!!!!!!! The Blazers took Utah down 122-120 after a tough Scoot Henderson (18 PTS, 10 AST) bucket with a tenth of a second left on the clock put Portland up by two. Shaedon Sharpe and Deni Avdija both contributed 27 PTS for Rip City.

• The Grizzlies set a franchise record for points in their 155-126 win over Toronto last night—Jaren Jackson Jr., Zach Edey, Desmond Bane, Jaylen Wells, Ja Morant, Scotty Pippen Jr., and Luke Kennard all had 15+.

• Steph Curry had a game-high 38 points, including a three that warranted a rare Mike Breen “BANG BANG” call, but LeBron James (31 PTS, 10 AST) and the Lakers got the last laugh when Austin Reaves (26 PTS, 10 AST) made a game-winning layup to lift the Warriors to a 115-113 Christmas win!

• Julius Randle’s 23 PTS, 10 REB, and 8 AST were just enough for Minnesota to overcome Kyrie’s big night (39 PTS) in a 105-99 win over the Mavs. What’s worse for Dallas, though, was Luka Doncic’s calf strain that will keep him out for extended time.

• After a great three quarters from Zach LaVine (37 PTS, 7 AST), a 50-point final period lifted Trae Young (27 PTS, 13 AST) and the Hawks over Chicago 141-133, with Jalen Johnson (30 PTS, 15 REB) also standing out for Atlanta.

• And in last night’s super late matchup, a Jaden Ivey (18 PTS) four-point play with three seconds left in the fourth quarter put the Pistons up 114-113 over the Kings and capped off an incredible Detroit comeback. Shoutout to Cade Cunningham (33 PTS, 11 AST) as well!

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Top Five Friday

Christmas was two days ago. Does that mean we have to stop feeling the holiday spirit? Of course not! Let’s go through five of our favorite Christmas Day games from the past few decades: ⬇️

1. 2016: Cavs overcome KD’s 36 PTS to beat Warriors

In one of the more historic regular season NBA games of the past ten years, the LeBron-led Cavs came back from being down 14 in the fourth quarter and grabbed a win from the Steph-Klay-KD-Draymond Warriors, all thanks to a Kyrie Irving turnaround jumper with three seconds left. Cinema.

2. 2011: D-Rose leads, Deng seals epic Bulls comeback against Lakers

Very few matchups feel more “classic NBA” than Bulls-Lakers, and this game was just that. The Bulls found themselves down 11 with under four minutes left, but they turned on the jets in the final minutes and reigning MVP Derrick Rose hit a go-ahead shot to put Chicago up with five seconds left. Kobe Bryant had the time to hit a potential game-winner, but Luol Deng said NOPE!

3. 2022: Jokic records historic 40-15-15 game

There have only been three 40-15-15 games in NBA history—Oscar Robertson did it in 1962, James Harden did it back in 2016, and Nikola Jokic blessed us all on Christmas Day 2022 with his own in a 128-125 Denver win over Phoenix. Quite the present for Nuggets fans!

4. 1995: Magic avenge Houston in first-ever Christmas Day Finals rematch

After the Rockets had beaten Orlando in the ‘95 Finals, the Magic found themselves feeling more vengeful and less cheery that Christmas. 22 points and 10 assists from Penny Hardaway and 22 points and 18 rebounds from Shaquille O’Neal were enough to overcome Hakeem and the Rockets.

5. 2023: Luka’s 50-bomb against Phoenix

This was just over a year ago, so it might feel less “classic” than some of these other entries. But a 50-point performance on Christmas—not to mention 15 assists, six rebounds, and seven combined stocks—is just so special. Put it up in the rafters!

Three in the Key

Signing Off

Thanks for being with us this holiday season, Enjoyers! For those of you who have referred the newsletter to a friend using the custom link down below, we’ll see you on Sunday for Out Of Bounds—our twice-monthly newsletter about the business, fashion, and culture of the NBA. For everyone else, we’ll be back on Monday. Peace! ✌️

Austin Zeglis