NBA on Christmas: Facts and figures about the games
- Share via
Some facts and figures associated with the NBA’s Christmas Day games:
— The New York Knicks beat the Providence Steamrollers at Madison Square Garden 89-75 in the NBA’s first Christmas game in 1947.
— The Lakers-Clippers game is the only one that features teams that have met before on Christmas. (Clippers have won two of three.)
— This is the 12th consecutive year there will be five games on Christmas.
— The Lakers are playing their 21st consecutive Christmas and have a 23-22 record on the holiday.
— LeBron James is playing in his 14th holiday game, second to Kobe Bryant (16).
— Dwyane Wade has the most Christmas victories with 10, one ahead of James.
— Bernard King of the Knicks holds the scoring record at 60 points in 1984 against the New Jersey Nets.
— Only two other players have scored at least 50: Wilt Chamberlain (59 vs. Knicks in 1961) and Rick Barry (50 vs. Cincinnati Royals in 1966).
— Tracy McGrady has the highest scoring average on Christmas for players with multiple appearances: 43.3 points in three games.
— The Toronto Raptors are hosting their first Christmas game and appearing in their second.
— There are 28 All-Stars on the rosters of teams playing on Christmas.
Source: NBA
Sign up for Full-Court Text with NBA reporter Dan Woike
Receive SMS texts about the Lakers, Clippers and the rest of the NBA and text back with your questions.
All things Lakers, all the time.
Get all the Lakers news you need in Dan Woike's weekly newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
