An ‘A’ was also given to the Knicks for their exciting 117-114 triumph over the Spurs and Victor Wembanyama.The Celtics and Warriors’ performances in their holiday matchups are mediocre at best.

The Suns defeated the Nuggets by 10 points to end the NBA’s five-game Christmas schedule. Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal both scored 27 points for the Suns, while Nikola Jokic led the Nuggets with 25 points and 15 rebounds.

The Knicks’ dramatic victory over Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs at Madison Square Garden kicked off the day. The Mavericks next came close to winning a close game against the Timberwolves, while the 76ers shocked the Celtics with a victory over them.

Prior to a historic matchup between Stephen Curry and the Warriors and LeBron James and the Lakers, the Knicks, Timberwolves, and 76ers had victories. Austin Reaves’ last-second layup helped James and the Lakers win 115-113. With 38 points, including a game-winning 3-pointer with 7.1 seconds remaining, Curry led all scorers.

James now has 507 points on Christmas Day, the most in NBA history, after scoring 31 in the victory. On Christmas Day, James also recorded his 11th victory, ending a tie with former colleague Dwyane Wade for the most victories ever.

New York Knicks: Given how the game finished, it’s easy to forget, but at the start of the fourth quarter, New York was behind 19–6. At that moment, it appeared that the game’s main story would feature Victor Wembanyama’s incredible Christmas Day debut. Karl-Anthony Towns, who had five fouls, was on the bench for the entire Knicks’ 23–9 run in response. OG Anunoby, Josh Hart, and Mikal Bridges all made clutch 3-pointers when the team needed them, but New York only made 13 for 39 (33.3%) of their long-range shots. Additionally, Bridges made what seemed to be every midrange jumper he attempted and chose a fantastic moment to play his greatest game while wearing a Knicks uniform: In 43 minutes, he scored 41 points on 17 of 25 shots (6 of 9 from outside the arc), four assists, two steals, and two blocks. Grade: A

San Antonio Spurs: The fact that this game started at 6 p.m. is not an accident; Wembanyama is the reason San Antonio was on this stage. Time in Paris was amazing. As usual, he played a variety of roles and put up impressive stats: in 40 minutes, he scored 42 points on 16-for-31 shooting (6-for-16 from outside the arc), pulled down 18 rebounds, contributed four assists, blocked four shots, and stole one steal. The Spurs should be satisfied with their performance overall because they won his minutes by seven points. They put themselves in a position to defeat a top team on the road, guarded Jalen Brunson well, and shot better than the Knicks (16 for 38 from outside the arc, including an unexpected 3-for-3 performance by Jeremy Sochan). However, they lost the possession game badly and were unable to get stops when they needed to. In terms of turnover and glass, New York had significant advantages.

Minnesota Timberwolves: The Timberwolves were on a three-game losing streak going into this game, so Christmas was the ideal day to break the cold snap. With 26 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists in his Christmas Day debut, Anthony Edwards was the Timberwolves’ star player. Edwards’ layup that iced the game and prevented a collapse in the second half was the game-winning basket for Minnesota.

Keeping the Mavericks to just six points in the first half, Minnesota dominated them, particularly in the paint. The Mavericks were deterred from attacking the hoop in the first half by the presence of Rudy Gobert, which helped the Wolves take a 28-point lead. The Timberwolves tightened up in the last minutes and secured a crucial victory, but the Mavericks rallied to win the game in the fourth quarter. Grade: B+.