Image Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

NBA creates history with thrilling Christmas Day finishes

This year's Christmas Day had everything - the top rivalries, great matchups, thrilling finishes, performances from star players, best plays, injuries and entertainment.

Image Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

NBA’s 2024 Christmas Day was full of drama with thrilling finishes. Fans enjoyed the games on holiday and their star players didn’t disappoint. NBA called it an “electrifying day of basketball” when all five games produced a thriller.

This is the first time in NBA history when an average margin of victory was just 5 points on Christmas Day. For the 17th straight year, the NBA featured five games on Christmas Day. Overall, there are 27 instances when the league played five or more games on Dec. 25.

It was an ELECTRIFYING day of basketball from start to finish!

The 5.0 average margin of victory was the SMALLEST for any #NBAXmas with 5+ games played (27 instances) 🎄🎁 pic.twitter.com/HmV7TKukb6
— NBA (@NBA) December 26, 2024

Today’s average margin of victory remains the closest ever for a Christmas Day with five or more games. Before heading to the final game of the day, NBA Christmas games had an average winning margin of just 3.75 points. It’s the biggest victory for the NBA and the broadcasters amid poor ratings.

This is a rare instance when three out of five games had a winning margin of less than five points. Four out of five games had a winning margin in single digits which shows the quality of the games. This is also the first instance in NBA history when the winning margin on Christmas Day is 10 points or less with five or more games played.

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2024 Christmas Day quick round-up

The Lakers overcame the Warriors 115-113 through a winning layup from Reaves with one second left. Both teams were tied with seven seconds remaining in the game. Philadelphia 76ers survived through a late free throws from Joel Embiid when Boston reduced the deficit to two points.

In other games, the Dallas Mavericks had a late 4th quarter comeback to cut the 28-point deficit but they failed to cross the line. Knicks and Spurs were tied on 109 points with 3 minutes left in the game but the hosts had the last laugh in New York.

In final game of the day, Suns had a two-point lead at half-time and rallied a big surge through KD and Beal to win the game. All five games delivered a great experience of basketball on Christmas Day.

#NBAXmas had it all!

🎁 A game winner
🎁 Clutch triples
🎁 Emphatic slams
🎁 The closest average margin of victory (5.0) of any 5+ game Christmas Day slate in NBA history

Relive the best plays from an electric day of hoops! pic.twitter.com/sLgrwKKETp
— NBA (@NBA) December 26, 2024

Top starts like, Steph Curry, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Nikola Jokic flexed their star power. This year’s Christmas Day had everything – the top rivalries, great matchups, thrilling finishes, performances from star players, best plays, injuries and entertainment.

Here are the results of all fives games on Christmas Day:

Knicks 117-114 Spurs
Mavericks 99-105 Timberwolves
Celtics 114-118 76ers
Warriors 113-115 Lakers
Suns 110-100 Nuggets

Image Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Christmas Day

Golden State Warriors

Los Angeles Lakers

NBA Christmas Games

NBA records

Gulshan Sharma

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A native of Jaipur, Rajasthan, journalist, and a complete soccer and basketball fan, he found the huge interest with basketball by watching videos of Allen Iverson and Tony Parker, but fell head over heels in love with the sport during the Warriors’ championship era (2015-2018). A sports game addict since his late PS1, he’s also passionate about the Eagles, Inter Miami and the Fever. He’s fortunate to have seen all his favorite teams win championships. He also has a special love for cricket and football (soccer), where he is a fan of Royal Challengers Bangalore and Barcelona.