Individuals inside NBA circles wish to name the All-Star Weekend a showcase for the league, the place the very best of the game’s previous, current, and future come collectively and have a good time what makes it the very best sport on this planet.
It isn’t profitable in that regard.
The sport is a joke. The showcase occasions are (principally) disappointing. The hassle is, um, missing.
The NBA’s true showcase occurs each Dec. 25, the place 10 groups sq. off in 5 consecutive basketball video games unfold over practically 13 hours. Christmas Day is the true barometer for the well being of the league and why folks ought to proceed paying consideration.
Did this yr’s Christmas slate ship on these expectations? Largely sure. It was a implausible stretch of video games, filled with drama and intrigue and buzzer-beaters and superstars and storylines and, effectively, regardless of the Nuggets’ protection was doing. However the day nonetheless confirmed a few of the flaws in how the NBA continues to place itself and the way troublesome it’s for a league of this measurement to pivot and modify.
The Christmas Day slate typically turns into the NBA’s model of the Oscars dialog, the place it’s much less about who obtained nominated and as an alternative turns right into a dialogue of who obtained “snubbed.” Giannis Antetokounmpo is without doubt one of the league’s signature stars, and his group was nowhere to be discovered. Additionally, 4 of the five-best groups by successful proportion had been absent from the festivities. Oklahoma Metropolis, Houston, Memphis, and Cleveland had been excluded for both market- or star-based causes, and there’s no mechanism in place to determine get these youthful, stunning (within the case of Houston particularly), profitable squads in entrance of probably the most informal audiences the NBA generates till the Finals.
However there are solely 10 slots. It speaks to the power of the league that there are greater than a dozen deserving entries into the Christmas Day dialog. That is a kind of “good issues.”
The day began with an absolute barnburner between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs in Madison Sq. Backyard. The Spurs earned a spot among the many 10 due solely to Victor Wembanyama, and the 20-year-old delivered on the largest non-Olympic stage he’s seen, pouring in 42 factors together with 18 boards, 4 blocks, and 6 threes. We’re all simply biding time till it’s Victor’s league. But it surely wasn’t fairly sufficient to topple the Knicks, who survived a tough taking pictures evening from Jalen Brunson and predictable foul hassle from Karl-Anthony Cities as a result of Mikal Bridges performed the very best recreation of his life. After shaking off a sluggish begin to his season, Bridges has absolutely acclimated to what the Knicks want him to do. He racked up 41 factors on 17-25 taking pictures and seemed like freakin’ prime Kevin Durant within the fourth quarter. What a ballgame.
Recreation two seemed prefer it was going to be the dud (Christmas Day all the time has a minimum of one) when the Minnesota Timberwolves charged to an enormous halftime lead and Luka Doncic departed with a calf damage which may be extra critical than it initially appeared. However Kyrie Irving turned the fourth quarter into a private spotlight reel and nearly singlehandedly accomplished one of the vital unlikely fourth-quarter comebacks you’ll ever see. The T-Wolves held on – barely – in a win that felt extra like a loss for this funky, oddly formed roster. The vibes are all the way in which off in Minnesota. The financially motivated Cities commerce has labored out worse than even probably the most pessimistic observer may have anticipated.
Recreation three seemed like the simplest one to foretell on paper (defending champs shedding two of their final three, returning to its residence courtroom in want of a win), however that’s why they play the video games. I’m undecided if the 76ers are “again” in the way in which the Bucks are “again” after successful the NBA Cup, however this can be a win this squad desperately wanted to show this season isn’t a misplaced trigger. The Sixers survived great video games from Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, and Jaylen Brown to eek out a 118-114 win in Boston, thanks largely to large performs from Tyrese Maxey (that game-clinching layup? Chef’s kiss) and Joel Embiid, who nonetheless can’t transfer or dribble very effectively, however is seemingly an excellent higher shooter now than he was at his MVP peak. Embiid had his greatest three-point taking pictures outing (4-5) and continued his actually unbelievable run on the foul line. Do you know Embiid has solely missed three of his 62 free-throw makes an attempt this yr? Even when his protection/ball-handling is a legal responsibility on the finish of video games, his foul taking pictures is deadly. It’s not panic time in Boston but, nevertheless it’s maybe a bit regarding that this seemingly loaded squad can’t survive a nasty Payton Pritchard evening (0-8 from deep).
Heading into recreation 4, I had the identical quantity of enthusiasm as I’ve for an pointless legacy sequel. They made one other Beetlejuice as a result of there was cash to be made. The Lakers and Warriors are right here as a result of they needed to be right here. Steph. LeBron. Nothing actually at stake. No title aspirations for both group. However should you get these guys the best director (or the best play-by-play man) and the best lighting, it might seem to be 2016 once more. And in contrast to most pointless legacy sequels, this recreation delivered the products – after which some. Curry was out of his thoughts on this one. The Lakers seemed like they’d cruise to a straightforward 10-point win till Curry buried that second-chance three with slightly below three minutes to go. That is when laser beams began taking pictures out of his eyes. LeBron would reply, Steph would reply even louder (like that nook three Steph hit over LeBron the place it seemed like Steph shot it sidearm). Then LeBron would block a shot that made him look 25 once more, after which Steph would hit a 3 from 100 toes away that made Mike Breen scream “Bang! BANG!” Goosebumps. After which Austin Reeves – who was a young person when most of those epic Steph/LeBron battles came about – sealed the sport with an aggressive left-to-right transfer. Will this recreation matter within the grand scheme of issues? No. Was it the very best recreation of the evening? Heck sure.
It’s good that Warriors/Lakers delivered, as a result of Suns/Nuggets was a little bit of a snoozefest. Phoenix took a lead early, Denver would claw again however by no means actually threaten, and that was that. Really abysmal effort defensively from the Nuggets on this one. The one purpose the Suns didn’t rating 140 was as a result of they missed a bunch of uncontested threes. The much less mentioned about this one, the higher. No huge deal – most individuals had been asleep for almost all of this one, anyway.
All advised, Christmas Day delivered the products this yr – 3.5 of the 5 video games exceeded expectations. Wemby, Bridges, Kyrie, Maxey, Embiid (on the line), Tatum, Steph, LeBron, Reeves, Jokic, Durant … wow. The league is doing advantageous.
