Dallas Mavericks: Doncic’s decision to leave the game due to a left calf strain was a depressing announcement for the Mavericks at halftime. Doncic was playing well at the time, but he was quickly sidelined for the remainder of the game after re-injuring his left leg. Doncic has a calf bruise on the same leg from earlier in the season and is recovering from a heel contusion. Even though Dallas’ near-comeback victory was inspirational, Doncic’s injury status moving forward is the main storyline from today.

Doncic might miss a few weeks or even a month due to the severity of the injury, which would be the worst case situation for the Mavericks, who are currently in fourth place in the Western Conference. However, the second half of this game was a fantastic illustration of how the Mavericks will perform if Doncic is off for a long time. Dallas has lost 6-3 this season without Doncic in the starting lineup, but if Kyrie Irving’s 39-point effort on Christmas Day is any guide, the team should be able to get by without their star player.

Philadelphia 76ers: With an unexpected win over the reigning champion Celtics on Christmas, the Sixers’ mid-season comeback continued. They are now only one game behind the Play-In Tournament positions after winning eight of their past 11 games to improve to 11-17 on the season. This was yet another look at the Sixers’ anticipated squad for the upcoming campaign.

Tyrese Maxey, who finished with 33 points and 12 assists, was outstanding, especially in the fourth quarter. He is the first player in Sixers history to score 30 points and dish out 10 assists on Christmas. Joel Embiid fought through many injury scares before and during the game to finish with 27 points and nine rebounds. Caleb Martin, who came back to punish the Celtics with a career-high seven 3-pointers on his way to 23 points, also gave the Sixers an unanticipated lift. Grade: A

Boston Celtics: In this game, the Celtics were somewhat unprepared once more. They have now lost three of their previous four games and back-to-back games for the first time this season. They are currently four games behind the Cleveland Cavaliers in the battle for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, but there shouldn’t be any serious long-term concerns about their capacity to contend for a championship.

Even though Kristaps Porzingis left after halftime and Jrue Holiday did not play, the Celtics still did not have the defensive effort they required. Conversely, they made 20 3-pointers and had a fantastic performance from Jayson Tatum, who finished with 32 points and 15 rebounds. But there was no sign of their bench. In his worst performance of the season, Payton Pritchard went 0 of 8 from outside the arc and finished with just four points with Sam Hauser.

Los Angeles Lakers: On the one side, LeBron James plus shooting means a lot of wins, but on the other hand, Anthony Davis missed all but seven minutes and didn’t score a point. Given that Davis was sidelined with an ankle injury in the second half, give JJ Redick credit for playing primarily centerless basketball. As the Warriors retaliated, he stretched the floor and let LeBron do his thing, spraying out to shooters Max Christie, Austin Reaves, and Rui Hachimura, all of whom hit backbreakers. The differential was crucial because the Lakers started the game with fewer than 12 3-pointers per game (27th in the NBA) and ended Wednesday night’s game with 15.

Speaking of Reaves, he attacked the basket aggressively all night long, using his shooting to get to the rim whenever he wanted on Christmas Day. In addition to making the game-winning layup with one second left, he finished with a triple-double of 26 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. Without Davis, who is anticipated to be listed as day-to-day going forward and may play in the Lakers’ upcoming game against the Kings on Saturday, he and Hachimura were essential.