Every Christmas like clockwork, I wake up open presents, gorge myself on too much food and watch NBA with the excitement of a 7-year old opening gifts from Santa. Here is my top 5 best NBA Christmas games of all time:
5. 1985: New York Knicks 113, versus Boston Celtics 104, (2OT)
In just his 29th game of his hall of fame career Patrick Ewing opened up a gift for Knicks and NBA fans in a thrilling double overtime game, leading all scorers with 32 in a rumble in Boston. Ewing going toe-to-toe with Robert Parish was a delight, with the Knicks coming back from a 25-point deficit to take the game.
4. 2013: Golden State Warriors 105, Los Angeles Clippers 103
The game that ignited the rivalry between these two California teams saw Blake Griffin get ejected after two technicals a flagrant 2 on Draymond Green and a missed Chris Paul game winner. After the buzzer, the teams scuffled off the court with ex-Warriors coach proclaiming “We like them. Merry Christmas.It’s just physical basketball, so we don’t get caught up in that”.
3. 2016: Golden State Warriors 108, Cleveland Cavaliers 109
With a deja vu moment of this past June, Kyrie Irving hit a clutch shot with 3.4 seconds left to lift the reigning champion Cavaliers over the new 4-headed dragon Warriors yesterday, that instantly became a classic Christmas day game.KD leading all scorers with 36 had a chance to hit a game winner but with some tight D by Richard Jefferson lost his footing and the champs claimed victory adding another mark on their rivalry.
2. 2004: Miami Heat 102, Los Angeles Lakers 104 (OT)
The first meeting of ex-teammates Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant on Christmas day was hyped up from the day the season schedule was announced.The bad blood between the two made for a fantastic Christmas present, even with Shaq fouling out late in the fourth quarter.Kobe finished with 42 points while Dwayne Wade led the heat with 29.
1. 2008: Los Angeles Lakers 92, Boston Celtics 83
The Boston Celtics were riding on a 19-game winning streak and had bested the Lakers in June stopping Kobe from winning his 4th championship.Even with both Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce scoring 22 and 20 points respectively, they couldn’t match the Black Mamba’s tenacity and drive for revenge.Kobe scored 27 with 5 assists in a thrilling game.
