Christmas day showdown a likely NBA finals preview
Golden State-Cleveland was no Christmas classic, but still, give us more!
This remains one of the NBA’s great rivalries and even though James Harden is a deserving MVP front-runner at this point, LeBron James and Kevin Durant are the league’s premier talents.
This corner doesn’t see any team beating a healthy Warriors squad, but like when Michael Jordan played, anything is possible when a team has someone as good as James. Whether you rank James secondbest ever, first, fifth, nobody can debate his place in the Top 10 and we’re not sure how you don’t place him in the Top 5.
His teams will always have a chance and they gave a Warriors team that is nearly unbeatable in Oakland a game on Christmas Day, leading after the first quarter and never down more than nine points, even though the franchise has only had one worse shooting night from two-point range and despite the fact that James didn’t play well (but he definitely was fouled at the end by Durant). Yes, the Warriors didn’t have Stephen Curry, but the Cavs played without Isaiah Thomas, Iman Shumpert and Derrick Rose and the bench shot just 6-for-26.
The teams will meet again on Jan. 15 in Ohio and there’s a decent chance both squads will finally be fully healthy for that battle.
With Boston fading, Toronto likely overachieving and Washington lacking depth, Warriors-Cavaliers IV remains the most likely June outcome.
Melo-drama on hold
Oklahoma City looked like the biggest disappointment of the season early on, but has rallied nicely, with Carmelo Anthony finally settling into the complementary role he is more suited for at this stage of his career.
Even when the Thunder struggled, the analytics indicated this was a solid squad, just one that played horribly in the biggest moments. OKC lost its first five games that were decided by six points or fewer, but has responded with wins in 9-of10 close games since, including the Christmas Day upset of Houston by five.
As a result, Russell Westbrook’s crew is now only a couple of games back of Minnesota for the West’s final homecourt playoff spot in the first round.
Why is that particularly important? The Thunder are 13-4 at home, a dismal 6-11 away.
Ratings bonanza
The NFL might be bleeding viewers, but the NBA freight train keeps on gaining steam.
ESPN and ABC said Christmas viewership was up 39% over last year and Philadelphia-New York drew the most viewers for a noon ET game since 2012.
OKC-Houston pulled in the best numbers for a prime-time game on the 25th since 2003.
While the NFL still pulls in a lot more eyeballs in the United States, that league’s popularity is sagging at a time when basketball continues to get bigger.
The Washington Post reported earlier this week that NBA ratings are up 20% overall from 2016-17 and are the best since the Miami Heat superteam captured the public’s attention in 2010-11.
Around the rim
Speaking of awful road records, injury-ravaged Utah was just 3-13 away (all records and stats prior to Tuesday’s games), one of the worst marks in the NBA, yet remained in the race for the West’s final playoff spot, just behind Portland and New Orleans. The Jazz also just unveiled perhaps the most distinctive uniforms in the NBA, bright gold and deep burgundy creations that will certainly stand out … Milwaukee has inquired about centres JaVale McGee and Zaza Pachulia. Golden State has moved rookie Jordan Bell into the starting spot and the Bucks lost Greg Monroe in the Eric Bledsoe deal, so the idea makes some sense, though John Henson is playing well … Golden State is 20-0 when sometime centre Draymond Green records a triple-double. Per ESPN, Magic Johnson (24) and Wilt Chamberlain (21) are the only players to record longer triple-double win streaks. Green became only the sixth player to turn the trick on Christmas Day and only the third since 1971.