Jalen Brunson led the way with 38 points as the New York Knicks earned a 129-122 win over Milwaukee, while Denver were victorious behind their Jamal Murray-Nikola Jokic tandem once more against the unpredictable Golden State Warriors. Now then, follow the rest of the Christmas Day schedule with me live!
NBA Christmas Day coverage, live
- Kristaps Porzingis posted a 28-pt, 11-reb display as Boston improved to a 23-6 record with a 126-115 win over the Lakers in the third of five Christmas Day matchups after Knicks and Denver both won earlier on
- Six Celtics were in double-digit scoring – all five starters and reserve guard Payton Pritchard, with 10 points and two rebounds in 13 minutes
- Big man Anthony Davis posted a new season-high 40 points, alongside 13 rebounds and four assists but was unable to stop the Lakers from going 2-6 since winning the league’s inaugural In-Season Tournament on Dec. 10
Earlier
Denver Nuggets 120-114 Golden State Warriors
New York Knicks 129-122 Milwaukee Bucks
Boston Celtics 126-115 Los Angeles Lakers
Live now!
Miami Heat 63-49 Philadelphia, half-time
Later
Dallas Mavericks (17-12) vs. Phoenix Suns (14-14)
Addressing the elephant in the room
The big news surrounding this year’s Christmas Day games is, for better or worse, centred around the availability of injured star players.
Former teammates-turned-rivals Joel Embiid (ankle) and Jimmy Butler (calf strain) were a late scratch from the Heat-Sixers matchup and naturally an intriguing Eastern Conference clash is weaker without them for their respective ball clubs.
Reigning league MVP Embiid is averaging 35 points and a career-high 6 assists per game, spearheading a team openly shopping for upgrades before the trade deadline under new head coach Nick Nurse, to finally banish their postseason hump.
02:40 — If you read this match report earlier in the month, it won’t come as a surprise to know Heat’s rookie guard Jaime Jaquez Jr is again producing another efficient game (8-of-9, 19 points, six rebs, two steals) in 25 minutes played so far.
Tyler Herro (22 pts, four 3PM) leads all scorers, Miami up five with little over four minutes left in the third quarter. As far as shooting guards go, the less said about Tyrese Maxey’s shooting performance so far (2-of-14, 0-of-5 3PM), the better!
Having recently returned after missing a month’s worth of action with an ankle sprain, Herro has produced some eyecatching numbers: 25, 28 and 30 points in their last three games and that scoring streak is continuing here thus far.
03:10 — Kelly Oubre Jr temporarily tied the game at 99-apiece with his sixth made three of the evening in the corner off a Tobias Harris pass, before Kyle Lowry gave Miami another slender lead to build upon with a well-taken midrange jumper.
03:20 — Duncan Robinson gives Miami a seven-point lead with 3:31 remaining after Maxey (2-of-18, 0-of-7 3PM) passes up an open look at three to De’Anthony Melton who leaves his effort short and they concede a transition basket seconds later.
03:25 — Sharpshooter Robinson has just splashed another three, his fifth of the evening, and it’s refreshing to see given how quickly he was dismissed as an unreliable role player (twice!) when his shot isn’t falling.
03:28 — Maxey, who was one of the league’s top ten in made free-throw percentage before tonight, has missed three of his six attempts at the stripe. Nothing is going in for him right now and this will likely track as the worst showing of his pro career.
03:31 — The 23-year-old guard shrugs as if to say, really? What kind of timing is that… shaking his head in frustration after drilling a deep three-pointer. Too late, but what a game for rookie Jaquez Jr (31 pts on 11-of-15 shooting, 10 rebounds).
Update — Miami Heat 119-113 Philadelphia 76ers, final
Courtside interview for the rookie on ESPN:
“Feels incredible, great team effort all around, we put it all on the defensive end and made great shots [in attack].”
On Erik Spoelstra’s perfect Christmas record, now improving to 9-0 all-time: “Means a lot, I didn’t wanna be the guy or part of a team to mess that up.”
Philly again lose without Embiid, but they’ll take solace from the fact this was a competitive defeat especially after Maxey’s underwhelming display as their burgenoning star this season. If they can get that sort of production from trade target Tobias Harris and Oubre Jr regularly, albeit with a few less shots, they’ll be okay.
04:00 — Wow! Luka Doncic just drilled a deep three and trash-talked some courtside fans on the sideline as Phoenix were forced to burn another early timeout. The 24-year-old began this game intently and has now reached 10,000 regular season points – feels fitting this was the play which did it for the Slovenian:
Doncic (358) managed the feat ten games quicker than LeBron James and finds himself seventh-fewest to 10,000 pts behind some esteemed company including Wilt Chamberlain (236), Michael Jordan (303) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (319).
04:30 — For what it’s worth, Doncic has a 17-point first quarter and doesn’t look like he’s stopping anytime soon. Could be one of those nights for the four-time All-Star, even with backcourt partner Kyrie Irving (heel) reduced to watching on the sidelines.
I’m going to switch to a live game-score and finish this game with more play-by-play commentary, currently Dallas 49-40 Phoenix midway through the second quarter.
Phoenix-Dallas, live commentary
5:32 in Q2, 51-44 Mavericks: The camera pans to Bradley Beal on the Phoenix bench, still sidelined through injury – this time an ankle complaint – as teammate Devin Booker cuts the lead further from the foul line, after Kevin Durant made two free-throws a few minutes earlier. The hosts are struggling with their shot…
I’ve just seen a graphic showing the Suns have missed their last 11 FGA and counting, while Doncic has more points (22) than Durant and Booker (15) combined.
Q2, 60-47 Mavericks: Chimezie Metu ends the aforementioned shooting slump for Phoenix, slamming a dunk from a Durant assist.
HALF: Mavericks 64-54 Suns
Doncic has dominated from the off, but Phoenix began slowly and haven’t done enough defensively to limit their visitors on another night where their 14-14 record – 11th best in the Western Conference – is showing itself with subtle mistakes aplenty.
It’s easy to forget a report earlier this week suggested Durant was unhappy and having not watched them all that regularly this season, I can see why the franchise will feel unsettled they’ve probably regressed from last season.
As the second-half gets underway… another ominous graphic: Doncic has scored or assisted on 42 points so far tonight while the Suns’ starting five? 41 combined.
Q3, Mavericks 69-56 – Case in point being a sloppy turnover by Metu, who has been one of Phoenix’s better performers so far, gladly gobbled up by an alert Doncic who scoops up a layup under a valiant Booker chasedown effort. You can then hear the four-time All-Star guard criticise his teammate for not hustling after said mistake.
Q3, Suns 84-82 Mavericks – Grayson Allen is streaky to say the least, but the sixth-year shooting guard has drilled a trio of threes in the third, keeping the scores close.
Make that four and counting, as he steals a Doncic pass near halfcourt and avoids Tim Hardaway Jr’s attentions to keep possession in transition before letting fly from beyond the arc, giving Phoenix… their first lead of the night! How long will it last?
Little under three minutes to play in the third, and Doncic’s first of two excellent passes for Derrick Lively goes unrewarded — the big man misses both foul shots after Durant impeded him under the rim, but made no mistake a second time with a dunk.
In-between those sequences was, you guessed it, Allen’s fifth triple of an unpredictable quarter. Play has stopped after Grant Williams goes down under a Booker contest as he looked to produce an ambitious dunk from the corner.
It wouldn’t be a festive game without some tempers flaring and that’s what unfolds between Williams and Booker under the basket as Durant advanced towards his spot, double technicals issued after review and the latter will have two free-throws.
END OF 3RD: Suns 92-91 Mavericks
Frank Vogel’s challenge was successful after an out-of-bounds play, overturning a Mavericks ball into their hands before Jordan Goodwin had his layup blocked by Doncic, who went onto drill a stepback jumper on the subsequent possession.
Allen could’ve given Phoenix a four-point buffer with the quarter’s last play, but finally missed a three and this is finely poised heading into the final 12 minutes.
Q4, Mavericks 117-110 Suns – Booker briefly cuts the lead down to five with 3:56 remaining after sinking a tough contested floater in the paint, before Doncic racks up two more points at the foul line.. he’s now at 48 for the evening and 12 assists too.
DAL 119-112 PHX — Make that 13, as Luka shrugs off Metu’s challenge in possession before feeding a bullet pass into Lively for a thunderous two. Allen and Eric Gordon miss open looks, before Booker drives uncontested to the cup for a layup.
1:32 left in the game and Phoenix’s painful turnovers have proven costly… Doncic has 48 points, six rebounds, 13 assists and two blocks. Can he get to 50?
DAL 128-114 PHX — He can, Luka Doncic has his sixth career 50-point game! 15-of-25 shooting, eight triples and 12-of-12 from the foul line, it seems he’s going to let time run out before teammates encourage him to go for it, he hits a sweet floater in the paint and it’s an exclamation mark on a brilliant showing by the 24-year-old.
Doncic doing some fact-checking during his postgame interview with ESPN’s Jorge Sedano, telling him he was replying to a courtside fan yelling that he sucks, rather than disrespecting the Suns’ house [their arena] as was first relayed to him.
“It’s a great road win, I’m really proud of this team. I’m feeling good, we missed Lively five games, Ky [Kyrie Irving] I don’t know how many, it’s next man up mentality, can’t wait until Ky is back.”
Thanks for joining me in what was an impromptu live commentary on Christmas Day! I’ll be back with more game reports in the days and weeks to come, features and more besides as the 2023-24 season reaches its business end. Until then, goodnight and hope you’re enjoying the holiday season.
Picture source: Getty Images
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