Joel Embiid made quite an impact in his Madison Square Garden debut. The Sixers star had 25 points, 16 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks to lift Philly to a 105-98 win over New York on Christmas Day. Neither team shot it well but the Sixers outscored the Knicks by 7 at the free-throw line and Kristaps Porzingis missed 13 of 19 shots. The Knicks struggled from beyond the arc, hitting just 4 of 15 3-point attempts.
Ian Begley, ESPN Staff Writer
Christmas brought us a full day of NBA basketball to accompany all of the gifts, food, and family. We've got all of the scores, highlights and news from the day's action right here.
Let's get into it.
NBA scores for Christmas Day
Wolves too much for short-handed Lakers
No Lonzo. No Ingram. Big problem. The Lakers couldn't muster enough offense to hang with the Wolves in the Christmas nightcap, largely due to the fact that they were missing their starting point guard and small forward. Minnesota took advantage, led by 23 points apiece from Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson, along with 21 from Karl-Anthony Towns.
Russ puts on a Christmas show
Playing against former teammate James Harden and the Houston Rockets, Russell Westbrook overcame a slow start to finish with 31 points, 11 assists and six rebounds to give the Thunder the victory.
31 pts
6 reb
11 ast
and a Merry Christmas to all! pic.twitter.com/lNrBgaexPj — ESPN (@espn) December 26, 2017
Jaylen Brown leaves Garden on crutch
The Celtics suffered a tough loss to the Wizards, and to add injury to insult, Jaylen Brown left the arena with the assistance of a crutch. He came up hobbled in the closing minutes, but head coach Brad Stevens had no update after the game.
Jaylen Brown leaving the Garden with the help of a crutch under left arm. — Steve Bulpett (@SteveBHoop) December 26, 2017
Stevens has no update on Jaylen Brown, who left the game early limping on his right leg. — Jared Weiss (@JaredWeissNBA) December 26, 2017
Wall outduels Kyrie
In a battle of All-Star point guards, John Wall had 21 points and 14 assists to lead the Wizards to a huge road win over the Celtics. Kyrie Irving had 20 points and five assists in the loss.
Carmelo Anthony starts sleeveless, puts sleeves back on
Carmelo Anthony started the game against the Thunder with sleeves. Despite a 2-for-3 start, he quickly put some on. Wonder what what that was about?
Melo is wearing sleeves now. So much for that. — Fred Katz (@FredKatz) December 26, 2017
Chris Paul out vs. Thunder
The Rockets will be without Paul for their Christmas Day matchup with the Thunder. This is the second straight game that CP3 will miss due to an adductor strain.
Chris Paul will not play tonight against the Thunder. He got in a pregame workout. — Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) December 25, 2017
Kyrie Irving throws down rare dunk
Irving is one of the best finishers around the rim in the league, but he almost always does it with crafty layups. He had some extra spring in his legs on Christmas, though, rising up for a two-handed slam in the first quarter.
Draymond's block leads to Durant's dunk
Driving down the lane, LeBron James made a nice drop-off bounce pass to Tristan Thompson, who thought he had an easy finish at the rim. Draymond Green, however, had other ideas, rising up to stuff Thompson's attempt. The block then sprung a Warriors fast break that Kevin Durant finished with a slam.
Durant proves to be a problem at the rim
The Warriors' star has been a stout rim defender this season, and Kevin Love found that out firsthand in the third quarter. Twice Love went up, and twice he was denied.
Morris twins will both be in action in Boston
Marcus Morris has missed the last eight games for the Celtics, but he will be in action on Christmas Day. It's a game he's been targeting for a while now, as he'll get to play against his twin brother, Markieff Morris, who of course suits up for the Washington Wizards.
Celtics forward Marcus Morris told ESPN he will return today against his twin brother, Markieff, and the Wizards. Has missed last eight games due to knee injury. "This has to be history, Marcus said. "First twins to play on Christmas against each other." — Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) December 25, 2017
Draymond trolls LeBron with Arthur shoes
Draymond Green is wearing shoes with Arthur on them this Christmas. This could be a subtle trolling of LeBron James from when he posted the Arthur fist meme on Instagram a couple months ago.
Porzingis and Embiid star, Kanter steals show
Christmas was supposed to be about Porzingis vs Embiid, but Enes Kanter ended up stealing the show with a 31-point, 22-rebound night. However, it came in a losing effort as the Knicks fell short to the Sixers 105-98. Kanter became the first player since Bob Lanier in 1971 to record a 30-point, 20-rebound game on Christmas.
The @sixers overcome a career day from Enes Kanter and beat the @nyknicks 105-98 in the first game of #NBAXmas action!
Embiid: 25 PTS, 16 REB, 3 BLK
Redick: 24 PTS, 6 REB
Kanter: 31 PTS, 22 REB
KP: 22 PTS, 7 REB, 5 BLK pic.twitter.com/hR8Q2M3yuB — NBA (@NBA) December 25, 2017
Enes Kanter scored a season-high 31 PTS and tied his career-high with 22 REB for the @nyknicks at the Garden!#NBAXmas pic.twitter.com/11IPZWClil — NBA (@NBA) December 25, 2017
Porzingis and Embiid hosting block party
The two talented big men have each rejected three shots in the first half.
Embiid comes out of nowhere for the rejection!
Joel is up to 3 BLK to go along with his 9 PTS.
The @sixers lead the @nyknicks 33-32 in Q2 on @ESPNNBA.#NBAXmas pic.twitter.com/JWuv7WeTej — NBA (@NBA) December 25, 2017
Kyrie Irving releases funky new commercial
The Celtics point guard has a new Nike commercial out on Christmas, and it's ... well it's very Kyrie Irving. It was directed by the man himself, and features cameos from Rob Gronkowski and Jayson Tatum, as well as a symphony playing while Kyrie does dribbling moves.
Timberwolves play Lakers to finish the night
Finishing off the Christmas Day action will be Minnesota vs Los Angeles. The Timberwolves are an upstart team trying to establish themselves in the NBA. The Lakers are still too young to win games, but they can make a lot of noise. This is a great chance for Minnesota to establish itself as a legitimate playoff team on the NBA's biggest early season stage. Meanwhile, the Lakers will try to knock off another team as they work through the struggles of a young team. Only downside? No Lonzo Ball.
And-ones:
Christmas is here, which means it's the season of giving. And in that spirit, this week's NBA Power Rankings will be a little different from usual. Instead of focusing on which teams are (or aren't) doing well at the moment, the focus will be on what each team would like to find under the Christmas tree.
Some teams like the Rockets and Trail Blazers will find player-specific items and others might find a fantasy that will never become reality. Others are team-oriented and some are just happy to get a nice pair of socks. Everybody has different wants, needs, and desires this holiday season.
Christmas is also, for some, the official start to the NBA season. It's when more fans start checking in and seeing where every team is at. There will be a few surprises, such as the Pacers, and the dominance of teams like the Celtics or Rockets. Surely someone out there wasn't expecting the Raptors to be quite this dominant. Then there's the usual mainstays such as the Warriors and Cavaliers, because even the craziest NBA season needs some semblance of normalcy.
Enjoy this day with lots of thrilling matchups and hopefully your favorite team will find just what they want under their tree.
