FOR the 70th year the National Basketball Association (NBA) will hold Christmas Day games and for the 10th straight year will feature five games to be seen in more than 200 countries and territories in more than 40 languages.
Scheduled games today are the Philadelphia 76ers versus the New York Knicks, the Cleveland Cavaliers against the defending champions Golden State Warriors, the Washington Wizards against the Boston Celtics, the Houston Rockets versus the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Minnesota Timberwolves against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Below are some highlights and achievements made in Christmas Day games as well as some notes to ponder:
395/16 — Kobe Bryant is the NBA’s career Christmas Day leader in points (395) and games played (16).
301/76 — Cleveland’s LeBron James and Dwyane Wade have each recorded 301 points and 76 assists on Christmas Day, the third-highest all-time totals for both categories.
60 — Hall-of-Fame forward Bernard King scored a Christmas Day-record 60 points for New York against the New Jersey Nets in 1984.
52 — New York will play on Christmas Day for an NBA-high 52nd time.
50 — The three players who have scored at least 50 points in a game this season will be in action today: Washington’s Bradley Beal, Houston’s James Harden and Cleveland’s James.
44 — Golden State’s Kevin Durant owns the highest-scoring game on Christmas Day among active players, recording 44 points for Oklahoma City against the Denver Nuggets in 2010.
37 — Thirty-seven players from outside the US representing 23 countries and six continents are on the rosters of teams playing on Christmas Day today. The Celtics have the most international players with six.
33.2 — Oklahoma City’s Carmelo Anthony has averaged 33.2 points in five Christmas Day games, the highest mark among all players with at least four appearances.
22 — The Knicks and Lakers share the record for most wins on Christmas Day with 22 each.
16 — Philadelphia will make its first appearance on Christmas Day in 16 years.
13 — Boston, Cleveland and Houston have each had winning streaks of at least 13 games this season — the first time three teams have done this in their first 30 games of the same season. The Rockets extended their current winning streak to 14 games with a 120-99 victory over the Utah Jazz on Dec. 18.
10 — Cleveland’s Wade has won 10 games on Christmas Day, the most in NBA history.
3 — Cleveland and Golden State will become the first teams to face each other three consecutive years on Christmas Day since the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat from 2004-06.
1 — Boston will play a home game on Christmas Day for the first time. Of the Celtics’ 30 previous games on Christmas, 28 were on the road and two were at a neutral site. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
