| 26 December 2010
Christmas Day has seen its fair share of spectacular performances, and today was no different. Since it makes for a clever, punny title, I've picked the biggest three of the evening.
LeBron James - The Heat's team defense (and Chris Bosh's strong early showing) could almost just as easily go here. But when you become only the fourth player in history to post a Christmas Day triple-double, you get the credit. LeBron was 8-14 overall and 5-6 from 3-point range for 27 points to go with 11 rebounds, 10 assists, 4 steals and only a single turnover. You've probably heard it from plenty of sources, but this is what we expected to see from LeBron with the Heat. An absolutely spectacular all-around performance.
Our next two entries are fairly similar, as both guys were simply unconscious.
Kevin Durant - 14-20 overall, 4-7 from deep, 12-15 from the foul line for 44 points. Throw in 7 boards and 4 assists (and a team-leading 5 turnovers, but take the bad with the superhuman) and you have a recipe for a team-carrying win for Durantula. And I do mean that. KD had 21 of the Thunder's 32 points in the third quarter and nailed some huge bailout shots. The broadcasters must have noted five straight times down the floor how bad the Thunder's offense looked (getting into sets late, forcing bad shots, not penetrating into the lane, etc.). And yet time and time again, Durant was there to nail an absolutely horrible shot over extended Nuggets defense. Or get into the lane and create contact in some very awkward ways. I mean, KD was so hot that he hit an off-balance-leaning-and-one-handed runner between multiple defenders at one point. Words cannot do it justice.
Monta Ellis - Warriors fans at the game were so high on this performance that they broke out MVP chants at several different points. One bout of early-season "M-V-P! M-V-P!" action for Monta is ridiculous, but we're talking at least three separate MVP chants for Ellis. Monta Ellis. MVP chants. The line: 13-26 overall, 3-5 from deep, 10-11 from the foul line for 39 points, along with 2 rebounds and 7 assists to only 1 turnover. He also added 2 steals, one of which led to a momentum-swinging basket in the fourth quarter. Monta was key (along with Dorell Wright and Reggie Williams, strangely enough) in the Warriors' 31-point fourth (to the Trailblazers' 22), scoring 10 points and adding in a steal, assist and rebound to beat a Blazers squad that finished the game with an offensive rebounding percentage of 49 (which is unbelievable).
A Merry Christmas for these three, indeed.
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