Thursday's mega-slate of NBA featuring eight star-studded playoff-bound squads and the real-time immolation of the Knicks and Lakers marked something unofficial on the league calendar.
Football season is ending, the MLB hot stove has cooled, and basketball takes a central place in the national sports spotlight beginning on Christmas.
So what did we glean from these marquee matchups? Here are five takeaways:
1. The only guy Kobe Bryant still likes plays for the Bulls
Just look at this hug. So tender.
Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant shared a prolonged embrace after the Bulls beat the Lakers 113-93 in Gasol's first game with Chicago against his former team. It's more affection than Bryant has shown this season for his mates in purple and gold, preferring to chew them out at practice with curses and toilet-paper analogies. Then again, none of those guys helped Bryant to two rings, as Gasol did.
"He's like a brother to me," Gasol said after his 23-point, 13-rebound effort. "It's weird. Obviously, it's an emotional game because you find yourself on the opposite side of the team that you played for for so many years and we've been through so much."
Bryant sat out to rest his sore body. He said his knees, Achilles tendons, feet and back were all bothering him. Other than that, he feels fine.
2. Kevin Love: Cleveland's preferred scapegoat?
The highlight was the Miami-set reunion between LeBron James (30 points) and Dwyane Wade (31 points), the hugs and handshakes before, during and after the Heat pulled out a 101-91 win over the Cavaliers.
But a subplot to watch: Frustration possible building with Kevin Love, who scored 14 points while starting at center in place of the injured Anderson Varejao. Wade putback-dunked on Love's head, and then James got agitated with his new superstar teammate about a missed rebound.
The Change.org petition going around after the game calling for the Cavaliers to trade Love was maybe a joke, but beware its sentiment: "Kevin Love is a liability to the city of Cleveland and our team. He robbed us of Andrew Wiggins' talents…"
3. John Wall and Russell Westbrook enter the MVP conversation
Going to keep this one simple: Stat lines, highlights and quotes for two young point guards lifting their teams and stamping themselves in the holiday afternoon glare at awards contenders.
Wall: 24 points, 11 assists, six rebounds, 10-for-17 shooting in 102-91 road victory over Knicks
"It's something I practice all the time, so it's pretty fun. I was happy to pull it off. In the Garden, can't get no better." — Wall on the 360 layup
Westbrook: 34 points, 11 assists, five rebounds, five steals, 14-for-28 shooting in 114-106 road victory over Spurs
"You've just got to rally behind him. He's a leader, natural born." — Thunder guard Anthony Morrow on Westbrook
4. The Warriors aren't going to win 70 games after all
With a Christmas-closing 100-86 loss to the Clippers, the Warriors (25-6) have now lost three of five following a 23-3 start that included a franchise-record 16-game winning streak.
"We're not invincible," said Warriors point guard Stephen Curry, after being held to 14 points. "We have to play the way we're supposed to play — at our highest level — in order to win games."
The Warriors missed 13 of their first 15 shots in the fourth quarter, going more than 6 1/2 minutes without a field goal. The Clippers' buzzsaw strategy?
"We went small, and that was very effective for us," Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. "We kind of stumbled on a couple of things that we liked and reran it — ran it into the ground. Tonight we settled on one thing, and it was working. We didn't try to trick it up."
5. This suit sits in Spencer Hawes' closet 364 days a year
It's like a 70s leisure suit had an immaculate baby with a tray of gingerbread cookies. Behold the sartorial splendor:
With AP
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