Merry Christmas everyone! From our extended SneakerReporter family to yours, we wish you happy, happy holidays! It’s been a long, rough year, but if you are able to just be with family and friends during this wondrous time, that’s a blessing in itself. And per tradition on Christmas day, we have one more NBA Basketball game that’s just a little under an hour away! Five games, and a preview of each of them, are coming down the chimney for viewing and reading pleasure, so go and grab your favorite Yuletide beverage, kick back, and get ready for game one of our NBA quintuple-header choc’ full o’ holiday action!
The last game on the schedule: Tyronn Lue and the Los Angeles Clippers head to the mile-high city to do battle against the host Denver Nuggets for the fifth and final Christmas Day game of 2020, tipping off at 10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
To say there’s dignity on the line for the first of four matchups between these two teams in the West is a bit of an understatement. It’s been a little over 86 days since the last time these two teams saw each other in a secluded Western Conference Semifinals, and it didn’t end well for the Clippers, whose main stars Paul George and Kawhi Leonard shriveled up in the clutch, making a combined 24 points off 10-38 shooting in a decisive game 7.
That devastating series loss debunked any beliefs about the Clippers being title favorites last season, and from becoming the talk of the town with arguably one of the best offseasons ever, that blown 3-1 lead over the Nuggets did irreparable harm to the synergy of the team. They let go of their head coach, were forced to watch Montrezl Harrell switch colors in LA to purple and gold after contractual talks deconstructed, and have had months to transpire over what went wrong in the bubble. They’re in a new campaign now, with new leaders in place and new goals.
They made sure of succeeding in one of those goals by knocking off the world champion Lakers last Tuesday on opening night, and when they allowed Paul George to move things in the offense, there was a new adjusted mindset that was visible; these Clippers were here for business.
As for Denver, they lost an overtime nailbiter to the Sacramento Kings, as Buddy Hield tipped in a botched Harrison Barned dunk attempt at the buzzer. Nikola Jokic was in early MVP form with a 29 point, 15 rebound, 14 assist triple-double, but everyone with the exception of Michael Porter Jr. (24 pts.) looked flat and played uninspiring basketball in their home opener. With national eyes on them, it’s likely they won’t play like that again.
But if the Jamal Murray that NBA fans witnessed ravage the bubble averaging 22.6 points per game against the Clippers shows up tonight, as well as the duo of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George play with a sense of redemption on their minds, it could be the best conclusion for an NBA Christmas Day you could ever watch.
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