While most sports and leagues are quiet for Christmas, the NBA offered a classic Christmas Day marathon with five games this year.
In the first duels NY Knicks have won Cleveland with 126-124, while San Antonio Spurs were better than the champions on the road Oklahoma City Thunder with 117-102.
The tradition was started in 1947, and since 2008 it has been played on Christmas five games distributed from afternoon to early morning European time.
The program was opened by the Knicks and Cavs, and in front of 19,812 spectators at Madison Square Garden, the hosts celebrated by winning for the third year in a row on Christmas Day.
The visitors are entering the last quarter led by as many as 17 points (103-86), but it followed a major turnaround by the Knicks. Three and a half minutes before the end, the home team equalized at 113-113. The Cavs run to +4 (117-113), so that New York takes the lead 118-117 with a 5-0 series. The Knicks went into the last minute with +2, and 27 seconds before the end, Karl-Anthony Town scored for 123-119. By the end of the match, NY defended its advantage for the 21st win of the season with nine losses, while Cleveland has a record of 17-15.
They led the Knicks to victory Jalen Brunson with 34 baskets and Jordan Clarkson with 25 baskets. He was excellent, especially in the last quarter. Tyler Kolek with 16 points and nine assists. On the opposite side, they were the most effective Donovan Mitchell with 34 baskets, seven rebounds and six assists, while Darius Garland added 20 points and 10 assists.
In a sample of the current NBA champions Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs the guests celebrated with 117-102. It was the Spurs’ third straight win against Oklahoma, who have lost just five games this season.
The home team opened the match better and led most of the first quarter. However, the Spurs still won the opening quarter with 41-36. The guests had +9 at halftime, and at the end of the third quarter a big difference of 16 (95-79). In the last section, San Antonio managed to preserve a large lead.
The most effective in the winning ranks were De’Aaron Fox with 29 baskets, Victor Wembanyama with 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Stephen Castle with 19 points and seven assists. He was the most effective at home Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with 22 baskets and six rebounds, but was “invisible” in the second part. Isaiah Hartenstein added 13 points and 12 rebounds.
Oklahoma leads the West with 26 wins and five losses, while San Antonio is second at 23-7.
(Hina | Photo: NY Knicks)
