J-Speaks: 2016 Christmas Day NBA Quintet on ESPN and ABC

In just a matter of hours from now, family and friends will wake up and gather around the holiday tree. There will exchanges of gifts and pleasantries. There will be hugs and people saying to one another, “I love you” as adults will be happy having a day off from works and kids happy to have a day off from school. After that is all said and done, there will be an opportunity turn on the television starting at noon to watch something fun. Superstars galore will on the tube as the NBA will be televising five games that will have excitement and a whole lot more. Please allow me to discuss and preview what you will see of the quintet of NBA Christmas Day games beginning at high noon on ESPN and ABC.

Boston Celtics (17-13) versus New York Knicks (16-13)

The action gets underway at 12 p.m. on ESPN with a meeting of Atlantic Division rivals at Madison Square Garden in New York City as the Boston Celtics who have won four of their last five taking on the boys of “Big Apple,” who have a two-game winning streak of their own and who are no strangers to playing on this day, having matched up seven prior times on St. Nick’s day. The second most all-time between any two teams.

The Celtics, who come in with a 12-17 record all-time on Christmas Day, have been playing well of late, thanks in large to All-Star guard Isaiah Thomas (27.0 ppg-T-6^th NBA, 6.3 apt-Leads team, 44.2 FG%) who since returning from injury has been playing great with a 31.0 scoring average and an 6.8 assists per game output in the last five games.

Despite falling to the Oklahoma City Thunder 117-112 back on Friday night, Thomas scored 34 points going 12 for 22 from the field and scored 15 of his 34 in a 4:33 span as the C’s erased a nine-point deficit early in the fourth period.

Unfortunately, the Celtics could not hold onto to a four-point lead that they had with 3:37 remaining in the contest as Thomas only scored one basket in that stretch and the Celtics were outscored 17-6 the rest of the way.

The Celtics were also the latest victim of Thunder All-Star guard Russell Westbrook’s triple-double havoc as he garnered his 14^th of the season and it was the first one allowed by the Boston Celtics in their last 231 games dating back to Jan. 2014.

The loss halted a four-game winning streak, which coincided with the return of Thomas from a groin injury on Dec. 16, where the C’s were just 1-3.

In an impressive 112-109 win over the surging Memphis Grizzlies (20-12), Thomas had a career-high of 44 points going 10 for 16 from the field, including 7 for 10 from three-point range and 17 for 17 from the free throw line.

Two other Celtics, who battled injuries earlier in the season, but have been solid of late are off-season acquisition forward/center Al Horford (15.7 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 46.0 FG%), who missed nine games in early November because of a concussion and forward Jae Crowder (12.9 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 46.9 FG%, 39.5 3-Pt.%).

One Celtic, who has had a break out season has been starting shooting guard Avery Bradley, who has averaged career-highs of 17.8 points, 7.3 rebounds per game on 47.9 percent from the field and 41.1 percent from three-point range. In the month of December, Bradley has averaged 17.9 points and 6.5 boards on 50.3 percent from the field. 

For the Knicks, who are 22-28 all-time on Christmas Day, which includes a 106-104 win versus the C’s five seasons back have had an up and down season to this point.

After finishing the early part of this season at 9-9, the started the month of December with five wins in their first six chances. Since then, the Knicks have lost three out of their last five games, but have as mentioned earlier two straight.

While perennial All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony (22.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg), is the marquee player on the team and newcomers this season guards Derrick Rose (16.8 ppg, 4.4 apg), 2010-11 NBA MVP, his understudy Brandon Jennings (8.0 ppg, 5.5 apg-Leads team) and Courtney Lee (10.0 ppg, 45.4 FG%, 47.6 3-Pt.%-2^nd NBA) and center Joakim Noah (4.7 ppg, 7.9 rpg-Leads team) are key to the team’s success this season, the present and future of the team is second-year forward/center Kristaps Prozingis (19.9 ppg-2^nd team, 7.6 rpg-2^nd team).

How important is Porzingis? Well in the Knicks 106-95 win versus the Orlando Magic (14-18) back on Friday night, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2015 Draft banged knees with Magic center Nikola Vucevic in the early part of the fourth period and did not return.

Porzingis said after the game that it was a “sharp pain” that he felt in his knee after the collision and that he had “a little inflammation in the tendon and the bone.”

He will be available to play in the Christmas Day matinee and will be looking to have a strong offensive performance. When he has scored at least 20 points this season, the Knicks are 9-6.

Porzingis and the Knicks will be looking to even their all-time record against the C’s when they meet for the eighth time on Christmas Day on Sunday afternoon as well as looking to avenge their 115-87 they sustained at Boston in their first meeting this season.

In that contest, which was their fourth setback in their last six games at the time and their seventh defeat to the Celtics in their last nine meetings, Anthony was ejected in the second-half after receiving back-to-back technical fouls from referee Tony Brothers. He finished with just 12 points. Porzingis had just 14 points on an abysmal 5 for 15 shooting.

Thomas led six Celtics in double-figures in that contest with 29 points. Forward Kelly Olynyk had 19 points and seven boards. Bradley had 15 points, 10 boards and three steals. Guard Marcus Smart also had a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds, along with three steals. Center Tyler Zeller had 11 points off the bench and Rookie Jaylen Brown, the No. 3 overall pick in this past June’s draft had and second-year guard Terry Rozier had 10 points each off the bench.

The Celtics, despite shooting just 38.9 percent from the field and getting out-rebounded 64-63, held the Knicks to 35.1 percent; forced 25 turnovers, that resulted in 27 points; had 18 fast break points to the Knicks nine and had 16 steals.

Both Anthony and Porzingis will be looking to have better performances against their division rivals this time around and for Anthony the odds are going to be in his favor as he has scored 30 points or more in each of his prior four opportunities he played on Christmas.

Golden State Warriors (27-4) versus Cleveland Cavaliers (22-6)

Of the five matchups on the Christmas Day, the marquee matchup will be the Finalists that have met in June for the past two seasons and are very likely on another June collision course once again. They met in Cleveland, OH at Quicken Loans Arena at 2:30 p.m. on ABC.

This will not only be the 18^th meeting between the current leaders in the defending Western Conference champion Golden State Warriors, winners of seven in a row and 23 wins in their last 25 games versus the defending Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers, winners of four straight and nine of their last 10 in the last 24 months, this will be the eighth contest between the Finalists from the year before on St. Nick’s day and it will be the fourth featuring four-time regular season MVP and three-time Finals MVP LeBron James.

This rivalry between the last two NBA champions, with the Cavaliers being the reigning champs defeating the Warriors in seven games last season after rallying from a 3-1 deficit to win the first pro sports title in the city of Cleveland since 1964 is as close thing the NBA has had since the Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers glory matchups of the 1980s.

One person well-versed in that historic rivalry and this new current one is Cavs’ head coach Tyronn Lue, who played and won titles with the Lakers and was an assistant coach for the Celtics not that long ago.

“It’s a lot of championships won in that era,” Lue, whose Cavs are a perfect 5-0 all-time at home on Christmas Day, tied with the Miami Heat for most wins without a defeat in NBA history said at the end of this week. “But if both team’s stay together and both continue to keep winning, it could be like that. They have a great team over there on the other side and we have a great team also. When you talk basketball, you’re going to talk Golden State, Cleveland, San Antonio. And it’s a great place to be in.”

The only difference is instead of Hall of Famers in three-time MVP Larry Bird of the C’s and Earvin “Magic” Johnson of the Lakers, we have as the top two players on the marquee in the aforementioned James (25.3 ppg-9^th NBA, 7.7 rpg, 8.7 apg-5^th NBA, 51.2 FG%, 37.1 3-Pt.%), and reigning back-to-back MVP Stephen Curry (24.4 ppg-T-10^th NBA, 5.9 apg, 1.8 spg-Leads team, 46.8 FG%, 40.1 3-Pt.%) of the Warriors, who will be looking to play a lot better than his 11.2 scoring average on 28 percent from the floor, going just 4 for 24 from three-point range in five career contest on Christmas Day.

James and Curry will not be the only two perennial All-Stars on the Quicken Loans Arena Court on Sunday. The 2014 MVP Kevin Durant (25.9 ppg-8^th NBA, 8.4 rpg-career-high, 4.6 apg, 1.5 bpg, 54.1 FG%-career-high, 40.3 3-Pt.), will be in the building in Northeast Ohio and he has fit in very well with the team in his first season after signing in free agency over the summer.

The Warriors feel much better going against the Cavs this time around, not just because they have Durant unlike in last year’s Finals, where they were no match for James and his running mate Kyrie Irving (23.8 ppg, 5.5 apg, 48.0 FG%, 42.5 3-Pt.%), especially in Games 5, 6 and 7, but the fact they will be at full strength and coming in on a hot streak with seven straight victories over all and have won 14 straight road games against the Eastern Conference, tied for the 2nd longest interconference road winning streak in NBA history.  

The Cavs will be without shooting guard J.R. Smith, who underwent successful surgery to repair a “complex fracture” of his right thumb and will be sidelined for 12 to 14 weeks.

Smith, a 13-year veteran who signed a new four-year $57 million contract in the off-season was averaging 8.6 points on the season, the second-worst scoring output of his career on a career-low of 33.7 percent from the floor, but a solid 36.2 from three-point range is projected to miss a bulk of the rest of the regular season and his return would be just before the start of the postseason in mid-Apr. 2017.

The Cavs also lost backup veteran backup center Chris Andersen, who back on Dec. 16 tore his Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) in his right knee in practice as confirmed by an MRI that required season-ending surgery.

What this means that more will be expected, especially at the offensive end from James, Irving, who has garnered point-assists double-doubles in three of his last four contest and Kevin Love (21.9 ppg, 10.8 rpg-10^th NBA, 46.2 FG%, 40.6 3-Pt.%), who missed two of the last four games due to stiffness and swelling in his left knee had his 17double-double of the season with 14 points and 15 boards in the team’s 119-99 win versus the struggling Brooklyn Nets back on Wednesday night, Dec. 21st.

Besides more contributions from the “Big Three,” who are one of three trios averaging 20-plus points this season, the Cavs are going to need major contributions from the likes of forward/center Channing Frye (10.0 ppg, 45.6 FG%, 45.1 3-Pt.%-6^th NBA); guard Iman Shumpert (7.1 ppg, 45.2 FG%, 42.2 3-Pt.%); center Tristan Thompson (7.0 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 59.3 FG%), who has three double-doubles this month and has garnered double-digits in rebounding in seven games in December; forward Richard Jefferson and the other key off-season acquisition in veteran sharp shooter Mike Dunleavy, Jr.

Why are their contributions going to be important on Sunday? Because the Warriors besides having Durant, they still have a sharp shooter and of their own in All-Star Klay Thompson (21.3 ppg, 47.1 FG%, 37.1 3-Pt.%); Mr. Swiss army knife Draymond Green (10.4 ppg, 8.9 rpg-Leads team, 7.4 apg-Leads team, 2.2 spg-Leads team); guard Ian Clark (7.3 ppg, 53.0 FG%, 42.9 3-Pt.%); swingman and 2015 Finals MVP Andre Iguodala; guard Shaun Livingston; center ZaZa Pachulia and veteran forward David West.

Having Durant and being at full strength makes Warriors’ head coach Steve Kerr excited about his team’s chances not just for Sunday, but for down the road if these two match-up for the third time in The Finals in June.

“It’s a great rivalry the last couple of years,” the five-time champion as a player with the Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs said at the close of the week. “LeBron is so good, so big, so strong, so smart. He’s a phenomenal player and it’s nice to be able to go back there with Kevin. Obviously, they’ll guard each other quite a bit, but we’ve got a lot of guys we have to worry about, just as they have to worry about a lot of our guys. It still comes down to how you play as a team at both ends.”

Chicago Bulls (14-15) versus San Antonio Spurs (24-6)

The back-end of the Christmas Day twin-bill on ABC at 5 p.m. features a match-up of two teams headed in opposite directions when the boys from the “Windy City,” the Chicago Bulls (14-15), losers of two straight and eighth out of 11 games meet the defending Southwest Division champs the San Antonio Spurs (24-6), who have won six of their last seven.

While by the numbers, the Spurs have been their usual taking care of business, fly under the radar selves, they did have their struggles early on this season with setbacks in three of their first four games at home. Since then though, they have garnered seven straight home wins, with their last one being a 113-100 win versus the New Orleans Pelicans (11-21) and at the conclusion of the contest, they raised future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan’s jersey to the rafters of the AT&T Center, who led them to five NBA titles in his entire 19-year career with the organization, that concluded with the announcement of his retirement over the summer.

The Spurs have been great on the road this season as they have been for so long, especially under head coach Gregg Popovich with a 16-2 mark this season.

The five-time champs were especially good to start this season on the road winning their first 13 before sustaining their first road setback on Dec. 8 versus their opponent on Sunday the Bulls 95-91.

The Bulls, who led by as many as 18 points on that evening held the Spurs to 40.2 percent from the floor and to just 9 for 28 from three-point range. They out-rebounded the Spurs 57-53; forced 19 turnovers, with 11 of them being steals; recording 16 fast break points and outdoing them at the foul line to the tune of 21 for 27 to just 4 for 5.

What is different about the Spurs this season, even though their record has been great is that the team is very different. As mentioned earlier Duncan is no longer in the fold. The leadership and mantle of greatness has shifted from All-Star Tony Parker (9.6 ppg, 4.3 apg-Leads team) and Manu Ginobili (7.8 ppg, 40.5 3-Pt.%) to All-Star Kawhi Leonard (24.3 ppg-Leads team, 5.9 rpg, 2.0 spg-7^th NBA, 47.0 FG%, 39.2 3-Pt.%) and last season’s prized free agent signing in LaMarcus Aldridge (16.4 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 46.0 FG%).

While the names of the supporting cast are still there like guards Danny Green (7.4 ppg, 43.5 3-Pt.%) and Patty Mills (11.4 ppg-career-high, 48.6 FG%, 44.4 3-Pt.%), there are some new pieces trying to find their place like new additions in veteran forward David Lee (6.4 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 56.4 FG%), two-time champion in future Hall of Famer Pau Gasol (12.1 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 50.5 FG%); back-up center Dewayne Dedmon; forward Davis Bertans and guards Jonathon Simmons, Nicolas Laprovittola and Kyle Anderson.

The good thing about Popovich is that he will give players like some of the new additions and some players needing time to understand what the Spurs require from all that play for them time, like in the team’s 110-90 win at the Portland Trail Blazers (13-19) back on Friday night.  

Parker, Ginobili and Gasol rested that game, as Popovich has been known to do and they won the game behind the 33-point effort of Leonard, who was 9 for 15 from the field, including 5 for 7 from long range and 10 for 10 from the charity stripe. Mills had 23 points off the bench, going 7 for 9 from the floor, including 5 for 7 from three-point range with five assists. Aldridge, against his former team had 18 points, 14 rebounds, six assists and three steals. Simmons had 10 points off the bench; Rookie guard Dejounte Murray, who started at lead guard had nine points.

The Bulls on the other hand have been very Scrooge like in their play of late and are in desperate need of a win no matter who plays.

They come into Sunday’s action with two straight ugly losses and have dropped five out of seven.

Their latest setback was back on Friday, where they lost 103-91 at Charlotte (17-13). In the second quarter two nights ago at the Hornets, the Bulls went 12 straight possessions and 6:18 without scoring a point as they were outscored 26-14 in the period after coming in with a 26-22 lead after the first. They shot just 39.6 percent from the floor, including an awful 7 for 22 from three-point range and were outscored 48-32 in the paint. The trio of All-Star Dwyane Wade (19.0 ppg 1.5 spg), who leads all active players with 277 career points on Christmas Day, Rajon Rondo (7.9 ppg, 7.4 apg-Leads team) and Jimmy Butler (24.4 ppg-Leads team, 6.6 rpg, 1.6 spg-Leads team, 45.7 FG%) combined for just 29 points on 19 for 45 from the floor. Butler was the only one of the three to have a strong performance with 26 points on 11 for 19 shooting.

Things got even worse as starting center Robin Lopez with 38 seconds left in the game elbowed Hornets’ center Cody Zeller and forward Marvin Williams both in their faces.

After reviewing the play from the scorer’s table monitors, the referees assessed Lopez with a flagrant two foul and ejected him from the game. Bulls forward Taj Gibson was also tossed.

“Tempers flared a little bit and it was pretty contentious,” Lopez said after the game to reporters. “Basketball’s a passionate game. I play with passion. Obviously, it didn’t go the way we wanted.”

This game is also on the heels of the Bulls prior 107-97 loss at home to the Washington Wizards just 48 hours prior, where they blew a 13-point lead in that contest.

The one big issues that added in the Bulls last two losses and what has plagued them for much of this season, especially in this rough stretch has been their inability to make perimeter shots consistently.

The Bulls rank just 22^nd in field goal percentage making just 43.8 percent of their shots from the floor and their 30^th, dead last in three-point percentage at 30.8 percent.

In the starting five of Butler, Rondo, Wade, Lopez (9.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg-Leads team, 1.8 bpg-Leads team) and Gibson (12.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg), there is a lack of consistent shooting and off the bench, Nikola Mirotic (9.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg), Doug McDermott (10.0 ppg, 45.8 FG%), Isaiah Canaan, Bobby Portis and Rookie Denzel Valentine have struggled to shoot from three-point distance themselves.

That is going to have to change if the Bulls have any plans to end their two-game skid and be the first team in this match-up to win the two-game season series since 2009-10 when the Bulls won both games against the Spurs. They will also be looking to drop the Spurs to 0-3 at home on Christmas Day. 

Minnesota Timberwolves (9-20) versus Oklahoma City Thunder (18-12)

Stars of the present and the future of the NBA will own the start of the Christmas night at Chesapeake Energy Arena when the Minnesota Timberwolves and Oklahoma City Thunder meet for the first time this season at 8 p.m. on ESPN.

The headliner for the Thunder is All-Star Russell Westbrook, who is not only having a career season, but is putting together one that has not been seen in close to five and a half decades.

Not only is he leading the league in scoring at 31.8 per contest, he is averaging 10.5 boards, which is 13^th in the league and is second in the NBA in assists per game at 10.8. His 14 triple-doubles lead the NBA, but he is tied with his former teammate James Harden of the Houston Rockets and Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside with 24 double-doubles.

To put how great Westbrook has been into a better context, his 14^th triple-double of 45 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists that he had in the Thunder’s 117-112 come from behind win at the Celtics on Friday night are the most in the league before Christmas since the 20 of Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson had back in 1961-62, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. It was also the first triple-double allowed by the Celtics, which snapped a streak of 230 straight games, dating back to Jan. 2014, the longest streak in the league.

Westbrook now has 51 career triple-doubles, which is sixth all-time in NBA history and what he has done is a major reason the Thunder have remained a playoff team, even with Kevin Durant departing in the off-season for the Warriors and why the Thunder have stabilized themselves with two straight wins following four losses in their prior six games this month.

If he gets a triple-double on Sunday versus the T’Wolves, Westbrook will join Robertson as the only two players in league history to have two triple-doubles on Christmas Day.

While Westbrook has grabbed all the headlines, and it has been well deserved, his ability to really involve his teammates has also been key.

Starting backcourt mate Victor Oladipo (16.1 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 45.5 FG%, 38.1 3-Pt.%), who has been shelved the last seven contest because of an injured wrist has been a solid compliment to Westbrook when he was acquired in the off-season from the Orlando Magic.

That deal happened during the draft back in June, where the Thunder said goodbye to forward/center Serge Ibaka, but in return received the No. 11 overall pick in forward Domantas Sabonis (6.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg45.3 FG%, 44.4 3-Pt.%), the son of former Portland Trail Blazers center Arvydas Sabonis scored a career-high of 20 points on 8 for 11 shooting, including 4 for 6 from three-point range at the Celtics back on Friday night.

Starting center Steven Adams, has had a breakout season with career-highs of 12.8 points, 7.6 rebounds on 58.4 percent from the field and his back-up Enes Kanter (12.8 ppg, 6.1 rpg) has been solid as well, especially Friday night with 20 points and six boards off the bench.

The Timberwolves have had a disappointing start to this season and to the first under first-year head coach Tom Thibodeau, but they have one of the best offensive trios in the league.

Center Karl-Anthony Towns (22.1 ppg-Leads team, 11.4 rpg-9^th NBA, 47.8 FG%), swingman Andrew Wiggins (21.7 ppg), the last two Rookie of the Year recipients and guard Zach LaVine (21.4 ppg, 47.7 FG%, 39.8 3-Pt.%) are one of three triplets in the NBA to average 20 points or more this season, the other “Big Threes” doing this are James, Love and Irving of the Cavs and Durant, Curry and Thompson for the Warriors. 

The dynamic trio will also be looking to make some history on Sunday night trying to become the first trio under 22 years of age to score 20 points or more in a game on Christmas. Wiggins, Towns and LaVine are all 21 years old. 

The T’Wolves also have a solid supporting cast behind their young “Big Three,” in starting power forward Gorgui Dieng (10.2 ppg, 8.0 rpg); starting guard Ricky Rubio (7.3 ppg, 7.0 apg-Leads team, 1.6 spg-Leads team) and his understudy Rookie Kris Dunn; swingman Shabazz Muhammad (6.5 ppg, 2.6 rpg) and forward Nemanja Bjelica (6.2 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 34.5 3-Pt.%).

The biggest issue for the Timberwolves is while they have great individual talent, they have not put it all together as a team losing seven of their last 11 games and their in ability to play defense has been a big reason for that.

Despite getting a career-high 40 points from LaVine, hitting a career-high tying seven triples, the T’Wolves lost 109-105 versus the Sacramento Kings (13-17) back on Friday night, which did not make Thibodeau happy and made his thoughts so postgame.

“It’s all about winning. I really want to look at the film. I didn’t think anyone played well,” the T’Wolves head coach and president of basketball operations said. “Someone is going to score in a game, but did you make winning plays? Did you make winning plays defensively, did you make winning plays offensively.”

This has been a familiar theme for the T’Wolves this season. Towns had 41 points and 15 boards back on Dec. 17, but the team lost in overtime versus the Rockets 111-109 back on Dec. 17. He had 47 points and 18 boards back Nov. 30 versus the Knicks, but the team lost 106-104. Wiggins 17 days prior had a career-high of 47 points in the team’s 125-99 win versus the Los Angeles Lakers (11-22).

With an MVP candidate on the court against a young up-and-coming trio in the league, but one that does not defend well promises plenty of offensive fireworks on Sunday evening.

Los Angeles Clippers (22-9) versus Los Angeles Lakers (11-22)

The Christmas Day ESPN/ABC quintet concludes in the “City of Angels” as the Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers meet once again at STAPLES Center. For both teams, they are limping into this match-up.

The Clippers (22-9), who have gone 15-1 against the Lakers since the start of the 2012-13 NBA campaign, including a 94-84 win on Christmas Day a year ago, started this season at 14-2 have gone just 8-7 since then and are dealing with injuries to their two All-Stars.

Forward Blake Griffin (21.2 ppg-Leads team, 8.8 rpg, 4.7 apg), who played in just 35 games last season because of injury and suspension, is on the mend again after having arthroscopic surgery on his right knee early last week and is expected to be out four to six weeks.

Starting floor general Chris Paul (17.6 ppg, 9.6 apg-4^th NBA, 2.3 spg-Leads NBA, 46.3 FG%, 40.4 3-Pt.%) is listed as questionable due to a strained left hamstring he sustained in the Clippers’ 106-101 win versus the Spurs back on Thursday night. He sat out the team’s 90-88 loss versus the struggling Dallas Mavericks (9-21).

The team, who is 4-1 on Christmas Day since 2011 felt the absence of Paul as they committed 20 turnovers that led to 20 Mavericks points and they had just 17 assists to the Mavericks 21. They were also out-rebounded 52-48, including 14 to six on the offensive glass and were outscored in the paint 42-24.

With one All-Star on the shelf and the other questionable to play, the Clippers will need the likes of guards J.J. Redick (15.2 ppg, 46.4 FG%, 44.4 3-Pt.%), Jamal Crawford (12.2 ppg) and Austin Rivers (9.3 ppg, 42.1 3-Pt.%), son of head coach Glenn “Doc” Rivers; center DeAndre Jordan (11.6 ppg, 13.0 rpg-4^th NBA, 65.7 FG%-2^nd NBA) and forward/center Marreese Speights (9.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg) to step up.

They will also need contributions from forwards Luc Mbah a Moute, Brandon Bass and Wesley Johnson and guards Raymond Felton and Alan Anderson.

For the Clippers’ co-tenants of STAPLES, the Lakers they came crashing back down to earth after a surprising 10-10 start to the season.

The 16-time champions, who will be playing for the 18th consecutive time on Christmas day, longest active streak in NBA have gone an eye-gouging 1-12 this month and have lost, which includes their current four-game losing streak. They went just 1-6 on their most recent road trip, which included a 109-90 setback at the Magic back on Friday night. The Lakers only win of the trip and of this month came on Dec. 16 at the Philadelphia 76ers (7-22) 100-89. It also was the only time that first-year head coach and former Laker Luke Walton’s squad had not given up 100-plus points to their opponent.

Injuries to key players has also played a major role in the team’s slide this month. Second-year guard D’Angelo Russell (15.1 ppg, 4.6 apg, 37.7 3-Pt.%) missed 12 of 13 games due to soreness in his left knee from Nov. 18 to Dec. 11.

The team will be without reserve forward Larry Nance, Jr. (7.0 ppg. 5.5 rpg) for an indefinite period after an MRI taken in the middle of last week revealed a bone bruise in his left knee. The 2015 First-Round pick out of Wyoming and son of former Cleveland Cavaliers’ and Phoenix Suns’ forward Larry Nance suffered the injury in the second half of the Lakers 117-113 loss at the Hornets back on Dec. 20.

Swingman Nick Young (14.3 ppg, 46.3 FG%, 41.3 3-Pt.%), who has had a bounce back year after two very rough and injury hit last two seasons, missed seven of nine contest from Nov. 25 to Dec. 9 because of a calf strain. He has played well in the last 10 games with a 16.6 scoring average on 47.6 percent shooting.

Along with the great play of Nick Young, another veteran who has been putting in work has been guard Lou Williams (18.9-Leads team 44.1 FG%, 37.0 3-Pt.%), who career-best scoring average in his 11^th season has been a major reason the Lakers’ bench has been one of the best in the league this season. During the stretch of Dec. 3-11, Williams scored 40, 38, 24, 35 and 24 points off the bench. That 161-point total tied one of the best scorers off the bench in league history in former Milwaukee Buck Ricky Pierce who totaled 161 points from Feb. 20, 1990 to Feb. 27, 1990. On two other occasions, Piece scored 158 and 156 points in a stretch of games respectably that same season.

The Lakers will have third-year forward Julius Randle (12.8ppg, 8.6 rpg, 49.5 FG%), who missed the last two games following the birth of his son.

If the Lakers plan to put their four-game skid in the rearview mirror and get their five-game home stand off to a good start, they will need the Williams, Russell and Young to play well. They will also need Jordan Clarkson (14.6 ppg, 35.1 3-Pt.%) to continue playing well off the bench; contributions from veterans Luol Deng (8.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg), Timofey Mozgov (7.9 ppg, 5.1 rpg) and the No. 2 overall pick out of Duke University back in June’s draft Brandon Ingram (7.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg), who has struggled shooting the ball in his Rookie season with a 34.8 field goal percentage and just a 25.7 percentage from three-point range.

Thank you allowing me to give you a preview of the NBA quintet on ESPN and ABC today. So, to all that read this latest piece of mine Merry Christmas to you all and enjoy the day.

Information, Statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 12/10/16 8 a.m. edition of NBATV’s “Gametime,” presented by State Farm with Casey Stern, Steve Smith and Dennis Scott; 12/13/16 5:30 a.m. edition of NBATV’s “Gametime,” presented by Kia Motors with Casey Stern, Dennis Scott and Brent Barry; 12/23/16 11:30 p.m. edition of ESPN’s “Sportscenter,” with John Buccigross and John Anderson and ESPN Bottomline news crawl during 8 p.m.; www.espn.go.com/nba/teams; www.espn.com/nba/statisitcs; www.espn.com/nba/standings;  www.nba.com/games/20161225/preview; http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_New_York_Knicks_seasons and http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_San_Antonio_Spurs_seasons.