New York (AFP) – Victor Wembanyama and Anthony Edwards will play Christmas Day games for the first time on Wednesday as the NBA delivers its 77th year of contests on the holiday. French centre Wembanyama, last season’s NBA Rookie of the Year, will lead the San Antonio Spurs into New York to face the Knicks, who have the league’s longest holiday history. The Knicks have played the most Christmas games of any NBA club at 56 entering this year, the first coming in 1947, the year the first NBA Christmas game was played.
Wembanyama, a 20-year-old who stands 7-foot-3 (2.21m), averages 24.8 points, 9.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 4.0 blocked shots a game for the Spurs, who return to the Christmas lineup for the first time in eight years. “Very excited just about spending Christmas in New York,” Wembanyama said. “Going to be like the movies I hope, maybe get a little snow. I’ll approach it just like any other game. We’ve got to learn about their team, scout them, and apply it for sure. I’m sure it’s going to be special. I’m sure the league is going to make it something special that we’re going to be able to feel.”
Edwards, a two-time NBA All-Star guard who helped the United States capture gold at the Paris Olympics, will try to spark the Minnesota Timberwolves on a holiday road trip to Dallas in a rematch of last season’s Western Conference finals. “Ant-Man” leads the T-Wolves with 25.3 points a game and also has 5.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 1.4 steals a contest this season.
The league’s past three champions will also take the court on Wednesday, with the defending champion Boston Celtics playing host to Philadelphia, the 2022 trophy-lifting Golden State Warriors playing host to the Los Angeles Lakers, and the 2023 winner Denver Nuggets on the road at Phoenix. Lakers star LeBron James, who turns 40 next Monday, is the NBA career leader in points on Christmas with 476 in a record 18 games on December 25. He and former Miami teammate Dwyane Wade share the lead in wins by a player on Christmas with 10. The Lakers and Knicks share the NBA record for Christmas wins by a team with 24 for each.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of Bernard King scoring 60 points, the highest NBA total on Christmas Day. Three other players — Rick Barry, Wilt Chamberlain, and Slovenian Luka Doncic — have scored 50 or more in a game on the holiday. Dallas guard Doncic joined the club with a 50-point effort last year.
The Lakers (16-13) and Golden State (15-13) are fighting for seventh in the Western Conference, just ahead of San Antonio (15-14) and Minnesota and Phoenix, both 14-14. Dallas is fourth in the West at 19-10, just ahead of Denver (16-11). The Celtics are second in the Eastern Conference at 22-7, ahead of New York (19-10), while Philadelphia has struggled to a 10-17 start, placing 12th in the East.
© 2024 AFP
