The NBA is set for its busiest Christmas in nearly three decades.
The league has five games on Thursday, highlighted by the NBA finals rematch between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers. It’s the largest slate of Dec. 25 games since 1979, when there were also five, and comes just two years after there was only one game.
Like so much else in sports these days, the reason for the increased action is TV.
TNT has exclusive rights to air its weekly national doubleheader on Thursday nights. It will keep its two games, showing a playoff rematch between Washington and Cleveland, followed by Dallas visiting Portland.
ESPN has a noon EST game between New Orleans and Orlando before ABC also shows a doubleheader that opens with San Antonio at Phoenix. The Celtics visit the Lakers later in the afternoon.
This will be the Lakers’ 35th game on the holiday.
“I loved it, and it didn’t matter if we were on the road or not,” former Lakers star Magic Johnson said during an ESPN conference call to promote the games. “Just give me the basketball in my hand, and everybody watching me? Oh, man. We were the featured game. I loved it. It’s the best time because there’s only a couple of teams playing. It’s fantastic.”
Johnson will make his network debut as part of ABC’s pregame studio show.
—
MORE MILLSAP: It isn’t easy to play as hard as Jerry Sloan demands, even for Paul Millsap. Especially now that he has to do it longer.
But Millsap keeps finding a way, helping the Utah Jazz withstand the absence of starting power forward Carlos Boozer.
“I try not to take any plays off, try to go hard every single minute I’m on the court,” Millsap said Wednesday before collecting his 13th straight double-double in a win at New Jersey. “It’s hard to do that. So that’s why I’m trying to get in the best shape possible, so I can go longer.”
as a starter after coming off the bench for 13.
“He’s had a chance to play and get more comfortable. I think that’s key with a lot of young guys if they keep working,” Sloan said. “He’s a tremendous worker and usually guys who work hard and bust their butt every day and don’t have any agenda anywhere, they usually get better.”
Millsap, a second-round pick from Louisiana Tech in 2006, said he’s benefited from practicing against Boozer, a two-time Olympian. His scoring wasn’t needed his first two seasons, but the Jazz have relied on their reserves much more so far because of injuries to Deron Williams, then Boozer.
Boozer had a second MRI on his left quadriceps tendon injury Thursday and the Jazz might have to continue playing without him. In the meantime, Millsap is enjoying his chance.
“I try to take advantage of the minutes that I’m going to play right now because all good things come to an end,” Millsap said. “Booz is going to come back and then I’m back to where I’m at.”
—
FINDING A FOURTH: With more than one-quarter of the season complete, it’s getting harder to find more than three legitimate contenders for the NBA title.
d be the Lakers’ opponent in the Western Conference.
The Celtics brought a 16-game winning streak and a 24-2 record into their game Friday against Chicago. They have been so dominant that the Cavaliers, who were 21-4, couldn’t gain a game in the standings while recently winning 11 in a row.
The Lakers brought a 21-3 record to Florida on Friday for a back-to-back at Miami and Orlando. If the Celtics, Lakers and Cavs survived the weekend without any losses, it would mark the latest in a season that three teams had four or fewer defeats after Dec. 20.
Cleveland was beating teams by 13.1 points per game, with Los Angeles (10.3) and Boston (10.0) not far behind. There has never been a season in which three teams had a double-digit point differential.
The Lakers host the Celtics on Christmas, but perhaps don’t have to wait that long to face a contender. Orlando improved to 20-6 by beating San Antonio on Thursday, and ABC analyst Mark Jackson thinks the Magic are a team to watch.
“Certainly, the Celtics and the Cavaliers are the two best teams in the Eastern Conference and you could make the case they are the two best teams in basketball. I think what is going on, under the radar, is the job that Stan Van Gundy is doing,” Jackson said. “You could make the case that he is the coach of the year in the NBA right now.
“Dwight Howard has elevated his game. He’s taking a commitment to being a force on both ends of the floor – changing shots, rebounding the basketball. Rashard Lewis is playing outstanding. Overall, that is a dangerous team. If I was the Celtics or the Cavs, I would certainly not look forward to facing an Orlando Magic team with Dwight Howard manning the middle come playoff time.”
—
SUPER SUB: With San Antonio’s Manu Ginobili off to a slow start after his ankle injury, perhaps the sixth man award is headed to another Texas city.
Jason Terry has been terrific as a reserve for Dallas, averaging 21.6 points in 19 games. His move to that role helped the Mavericks recover from a 2-7 start to bring a 14-10 record into their game at New Jersey on Friday.
“It’s a situation where I know what my role is,” Terry said. “For us to be a good team I have to do my job consistently every night, and it’s just something that throughout my career that I don’t think I’ve done to the best of my abilities and this year I’m really focusing on it.”
Terry started five games in early November and the Mavs lost four of them. They lost again in Terry’s first game after moving back to the bench, then won 12 of the next 15. Terry was held below 19 points only once in that span.
eal starting lineup is until his team is fully healthy, but he probably won’t be changing Terry’s role anytime soon.
“I think right now him coming off the bench is the best option for us,” Carlisle said. “That could change as time goes on, but so far if you analyze the results we’ve been better with him off the bench.”
Terry is averaging 21 points overall, best of his 10-year career, but isn’t worried about getting the award giving to the best sub.
“If I am, that means I’m doing my job,” Terry said.
Add A Comment