Christmas is to the NBA what Thanksgiving is to the NFL; a must-watch sporting marathon placed squarely on what is supposed to be a family holiday.
For hoops fans, watching basketball on Christmas Day is a tradition just as important as hanging the stockings or opening presents. Our families rarely understand what a full day of watching grown men throw a leather ball into a ten-foot hoop has to do with yuletide, but somehow basketball and Christmas go together like eggnog and rum; you're not really sure who originally thought it would be a good idea to put them together, but now you don't want to know what the holiday would be like if they were apart.
If you'll allow me a small personal aside, watching basketball on Christmas Day is a tradition I've held for over 20 years now. There's not a single other basketball fan in my entire family, so it's a constant balancing act of fitting in quarters when I can and putting in face time with the people I love in small, 15-minute bursts. Different family members always make an effort to watch a bit with me, ask about the game and such, but rarely do they make it a full quarter before moving on. Yes, it's a bit antisocial on my part, but basketball on Christmas is my anchor.
What I mean is that it's the one tradition that I can take with me wherever I go. An interesting wrinkle this year is that I won't be with my family for the first time in my 31 years on this planet and will instead be with my in-laws. I'm not quite sure how they'll react to my constantly being distracted by an undying desire to watch a five-game, 13-hour marathon of hoops in the middle of their own traditions, but we'll see how it goes. At the very least, my wife has always been very supportive of my obsession and will probably come to my defence. What's more, we're only a month away from welcoming our firstborn son into the world, so maybe I'll finally have someone to watch the games with me after this year!
Ok, enough personal mumbo jumbo, let's take a look at the matchups.
Washington Wizards @ New York Knicks (12:00pm EST)
Naughty: The Knicks are the 28th-ranked team on our Basketball-Reference, which ranks as the 9th-worst of all time. The worst mark in the history of the league is 114.7 (done three separate times) and could very well be within reach for the Lakers before the end of this season.
Nice: Jimmy Butler is an early favorite for the Most Improved Player Award, currently rankings sixth in our NBA Player Rankings with an individual nERD of 16.1 (which suggests that a league-average team would finish approximately 16 games over .500 with Jimmy as a starter). He's averaging career highs in points (21.7), rebounds (6.2), assists (3.3), blocks (0.6), field goal percentage (48.0%), three-point percentage (34.2%), and free throw percentage (82.5%), while throwing in 1.5 steals in a league-leading 40.0 minutes per game. He good.
Stocking stuffer stat: The Lakers have a -13.3 net rating (points scored minus points allowed per 100 possessions) with Kobe on the floor this season and a +11.1 with him off. Merry Kobe-mas!
If this game were part of a traditional Christmas dinner, it would be: the stuffing. It's an essential part of the meal, even if it's not the main attraction. In kind, this will be Kobe Bryant's 16th game played on Christmas Day, a continuation of the all-time record. Even if he's no longer the marquee player or on a powerhouse team, Kobe is NBA Christmas.
It'll be a Christmas miracle if: Derrick Rose doesn't get hurt and Nick "Swaggy P" Young says and does "swaggy" things.
Golden State Warriors @ Los Angeles Clippers (10:30pm EST)
Naughty: The Los Angeles Clippers currently rank 18th in the NBA in defensive efficiency, allowing 104.4 points per 100 possessions. That's a pretty sizeable departure from last year, when they ranked 8th in the league at 102.1. (Honestly, I'm reaching; there's very little not to like about this game. Here's what should be considered naughty: Chris Paul alley-oops to Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.)
Nice: Everything about the Warriors. They have the best record in the NBA at 23-4 and the top net rating of +11.1, based on the strength of having the league's top defense (96.9 points allowed per 100 possessions) and the fifth-best offense (108.0 points scored per 100 possessions). Their starting lineup of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, Draymond Green, and Andrew Bogut has been the best in the league with a net rating of +28.0 in 245 minutes of action. On top of that, they bring former All-Stars Andre Iguodala and David Lee off the bench. For all that, they are currently the number one team on our NBA Team Power Rankings with a nERD of 78.5 and hold our best championship chances at 19.5%.
Stocking stuffer stat: The Warriors have had a net rating of +62.6 in 31 minutes of crunch time this season (when a game has a point differential of five or less in the last five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime). That's due to an offensive rating of 135.6 points scored per 100 possessions and a defensive rating of 73.0 points allowed per 100 possessions. That is flat out ridiculous.
If this game were part of a traditional Christmas dinner, it would be: whatever dessert your family traditionally serves. Pies, cobblers, cakes, yuletide logs, etc; there is no one definitive Christmas dessert. Regardless, by the time you've gotten to it, you've eaten far too much and are far too bloated to take it on. Still, you eat it because it was really what you were waiting for all along and you're allowed to be a glutton on Christmas. That's this game. After more than 10 hours of basketball and enough family time and turkey to require a 14-hour night's sleep, you're still going to watch this game. Again, you're allowed to be a glutton on Christmas.
It'll be a Christmas miracle if: this game goes to three overtimes. Last year's seven-game series in the opening round simply wasn't enough.