NBA games have been a staple of Christmas since the second year of the league’s inception, and basketball has historically been the sport to watch when December 25th rolls around. Plenty of players have gone off in those contests, but a chunk of them featuring some very notable names really stands out from the rest of the pack.
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On December 25th, 1947, the New York Knicks beat the now-defunct Providence Steamrollers at Madison Square Garden in the first Christmas game the NBA held after forming the previous year.
That marked the start of an annual tradition that was only interrupted by the lockout in 1988, and the NBA has tended to use Christmas Day to schedule marquee matchups featuring its best teams and players.
It’s only natural some of those guys have put on a show in those showdowns, but none of them have stood out quite like the ones om this list.
Bernard King—60
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Only nine players in NBA history had scored at least 60 points when the Knicks hosted the Nets at Madison Square Garden in 1984.
Bernard King ended up becoming the tenth when everything was said and done, as the forward scored 40 points in the first half and finished with 60 on the dot while adding seven rebounds and four assists.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to lead the home team to victory, as the Nets walked away with the 120-114 win in enemy territory before heading back across the Hudson.
Wilt Chamberlain—59
Wilt Chamberlain was one of the nine men who’d scored 60 points in a game before King joined the club—a feat he managed to achieve 32 times during his legendary career (Kobe Bryant had the second-most with a relatively paltry six).
He came up just short of another when the team known as the Philadelphia Warriors headed to MSG for a showdown with the Knicks on Christmas in 1961, as he finished with 59 points and a whopping 36 rebounds.
As was the case with King, his team was unable to take advantage, as New York eked out a 136-135 win in double overtime.
Luka Doncic—50
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2024 will mark the fifth season in a row the Mavericks have played on Christmas, and Luka Doncic has thrived in that spotlight by averaging 36.3 points in the three contests he’s appeared in (he was sidelined with an injury in 2021).
That number is skewed a bit thanks to the 50 points he put up when the Mavs took on the Suns in 2023, and he also pulled down six rebounds and dished out 15 assists while leading Dallas to the 128-114 win on the road.
Rick Barry—50
1966’s Christmas Day showdown between the San Francisco Warriors and the Cincinnati Royals featured a couple of big names in the form of the former’s Rick Barry and the latter’s Oscar Robertson, and both men delivered on the holiday stage.
Robertson finished with 38 points, but Barry had the upper hand with the 50 he scored along with six rebounds and four assists in his team’s 124-112 triumph.
Jerry West—47
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The Lakers team that faced off against the Knicks on Christmas in 1963 featured a formidable one-two punch thanks to the dynamic duo of Jerry West and Elgin Baylor, and both of them channeled their inner Santa by delivering on December 25th.
Baylor notched 27 points, but West put up 47 as Los Angeles played the role of Grinch at MSG with a 134-126 win.
Tracy McGrady—46
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The Christmas game between the Magic and the Pistons in 2002 was a bit of an afterthought when you consider the other two on the schedule featured Conference Finals rematches from the previous year, but it ended up being the most entertaining.
The two teams needed overtime to decide things, and the Magic ultimately secured the 104-99 victory on the back of the 46 points recorded by eventual scoring champion Tracy McGrady.
Dominique Wilkins—45
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Dominique Wilkins and Charles Barkley were respectively the star players for the Hawks and the 76ers in 1987, and The Human Highlight Film lived up to his nickname when he faced off against The Round Mound of Rebound on Christmas that year.
Sir Charles led Philly in scoring with 22 points, but Wilkins erupted for 47 along with nine rebounds and three assists in Atlanta’s 106-100 victory.
Tom Heinsohn—45
Most Celtics fans alive today probably best know Tom Heinsohn for his contributions as a broadcaster, but he was no slouch during the nine seasons he spent as a player in Boston while racking up eight championships with a little bit of help from Bob Cousy and Bill Russell.
The legendary center had a fairly quiet Christmas when the Celtics faced off against the Syracuse Nationals in 1961, but Heinsohn was able to pick up the slack with the 45 points he scored in Boston’s 127-122 victory.
Wilt Chamberlain—45
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It’s not a huge surprise to see Wilt The Stilt pop up on this list yet again, as he’d already set the Christmas mark to beat before he broke his own record just a couple of years later.
The Nationals did what they could to hang with Philadelphia when they met in 1959, but they weren’t able to overcome the 45-point, 34-rebound performance where Chamberlain added a couple of assists for good measure in the 129-121 win.
Kevin Durant—44
There were five games in the Christmas slate in 2010, and none of them produced a performance that was able to rival the show Kevin Durant put on against the Nuggets.
Denver got some solid contributions from Chauncey Billups and Nene (who combined for 51 points), but KD lived up to his status as a rising superstar with the 44 points, seven rebounds, and four assists he had while adding two steals and a couple of blocks to propel Oklahoma City to a 114-106 victory.
Jerry West—44
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We’ve got yet another repeat courtesy of Jerry West, who came just a few points away from matching his total from two years before.
Baylor was essentially a non-factor in the Christmas game between the Lakers and Pistons in 1965 where he only scored a couple of points, but West was more than able to make up for that lack of production with the 44 he had by the time Los Angeles came out on top by a score of 115-106.
