When the NBA’s Christmas Day schedule came out prior to the season, one of the eyebrow-raising decisions from the league was to give Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs the Christmas spotlight with a game in Madison Square Garden against the Knicks, picking the second-year star over the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks or Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder. It was a big bet on the Spurs to be improved this year (which they are) and on Wembanyama to meet the moment in his Christmas debut.
Wembanyama unquestionably did just that, as he scored 42 points to go along with 18 rebounds and four blocks, making good on his promise that his Christmas debut would be “a movie.” It was a bit of a slow start for Wembanyama, who struggled to find the range from distance early on, but once he found it he rained in 6 threes (on 16 attempts) and pushed the Spurs to a 7-point halftime lead.
However, the Knicks got a performance to match Wemby from Mikal Bridges, who was lethal with his efficiency, scoring 41 points on 17-of-25 shooting, including six made threes of his own.
He and Karl-Anthony Towns led a New York charge to get back in front in the third quarter, with Towns adding 21 points on 9-of-16 shooting in just 30 minutes of action, as he struggled with foul trouble.
The two teams traded leads in the fourth quarter, but it was the Knicks that were able to come out on top thanks to some big buckets from Bridges and ratcheting up the defense on the Spurs, who couldn’t get enough shots to drop late. New York emerged with a 117-114 win as they were able to run out the clock on a 38-second final possession thanks to two huge offensive rebounds from Josh Hart that sealed the win.
It was an incredible start to the NBA’s Christmas slate, and if there were any doubts that Wembanyama would embrace the stage, he put those to rest with one of the all-time great Christmas debuts. His 42 points put him third behind Tracy McGrady (43) and Wilt Chamberlain (45) on the list of highest scoring Christmas Day debuts, and I’d venture a guess that it’ll be a long time before he’s not part of the NBA’s marquee day of games.
On the other side, the Knicks showed why they’re such a dominant offense, as even in a game where Jalen Brunson was off and Towns was on the bench with foul trouble for 18 minutes, they could lean on Mikal Bridges — who has shaken off those early-season questions about his jump shot and looks like the Bridges of old.