Despite Anthony Davis’ 40 points, LeBron James’ Lakers (16 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists) fell again, remaining on a victory against Oklahoma after having had four consecutive losses. Kristaps Porzingis scored 28 points (11 rebounds), while Jayson Tatum scored 25 points for the Celtics. This match between the two franchises which share the record for the greatest number of NBA titles (17) therefore turned to the advantage of Boston, at the top of the Eastern Conference. Lebron James, who had a great performance against the Thunder, was less visible on Monday.
Luka Doncic propelled the Mavericks to victory by scoring 50 points alone against Phoenix (128-114). But his performance above all allowed him to exceed 10,000 points in his career on Monday, at 24 years old. He is the seventh fastest player (358 matches) to reach this figure. Faced with the hostile Suns crowd, the Slovenian had fun declaring “when you make a shot, the whole gymnasium is silent. “It’s the best feeling in the world,” he who also recorded 6 rebounds and 15 assists. He is also the fourth player to score 50 or more points on Christmas Day. A great gift for Dallas fans.
This Christmas day began with New York’s 129-122 victory against the Milwaukee Bucks at Madison Square Garden. To 32 points each from Greek star Giannis Antetokoumpo (13 rebounds) and Damian Lillard (8 assists), the Knicks responded with four players at 20 or more points: Jalen Brunson (38), Julius Randle (24), RJ Barrett (21) and Immanuel Quickley (20). Milwaukee falls after seven consecutive victories.
In Denver, Jamal Murray scored 28 points and Nikola Jokic made 18 of 18 free throws to allow the Nuggets to score a fifth victory in a row (120-114) against Golden State. Jokic finished the game with 26 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists. The Warriors remained on a series of five wins, but superstar Stephen Curry had a frustrating day, with a total of 18 points, on seven out of 21 shots. Andrew Wiggins’ 22 points were also not enough to Golden State.
