NBA Christmas Day Takeaways: Bulls surprise, Warriors still great

NBA Bloopers: The Starters

The NBA tries hard to design five intriguing games for the NBA diehards and the casual, national audience on Christmas Day. With an NBA Finals rematch, young stars vs. older stars, up-and-coming players vs. great players holding out against Father Time, and teams struggling to find their identity trying to take down institutions of basketball over the past decade and a half, we had plenty on our holiday plates Friday.

There was a lot to digest from the holiday celebrations and the NBA action. Here are the top takeaways we have from the Christmas Day games:

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Los Angeles Clippers 94, Los Angeles Lakers 84

Clippers continue their new Los Angeles dominance but yeesh that bench is bad: Ever since Chris Paul"s move to the Lakers was vetoed by the NBA and he ended up in a Clippers uniform, the battle for Los Angeles has been oddly one-sided in the favor of a team you just wouldn"t expect. Before the Clippers getting CP3, the Lakers were 141-48 against the Clippers. Just an embarrassing level of dominance in a one-team, two-occupancy city.

Since the trade for CP3? The Clippers have gone 13-3, winning the past eight games after the Christmas Day victory over the Lakers on Friday night. It has been a remarkable reversal of fortunes by the Clippers -- something we"re not exactly used to seeing from this franchise. Their ascension to a foggy level of contention while the Lakers are putting up their worst stretch of basketball in franchise history has put them on two opposite ends of the spectrum we"re just not used to seeing.

But for the Clippers to start carving into that Lakers control of the city, they need to win titles and they can"t win titles without a bench. The bench unit for the Clippers against the Lakers nearly cost them the giant lead the starters built up and maintained for the first three quarters. That wasn"t so much the case in the 27-9 fourth quarter the Lakers enjoyed behind D"Angelo Russell and Marcelo Huertas. The Clippers" bench has names but those names are synonymous with being good years ago and not in the present. Clippers are enjoying the win and their newfound dominance of the Lakers, but they"re still looking for some support in the second unit. -- by Zach Harper

That"s a wrap on Kobe Bryant"s Christmas Day career: Watching Kobe Bryant play basketball on Christmas has pretty much become a tradition and a staple of the holiday season for basketball nerds like me. After the Lakers" loss Friday night, Kobe had completed his 16th and final Christmas Day game of his career. And he could have had a couple more if injuries hadn"t robbed him of a few Yuletide contests.

With 12 points on 4 of 10 from the field and three rebounds, three assists and two steals, Bryant"s Christmas Day numbers are complete. In 16 Christmas games, Kobe averaged 24.7 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists. He shot 40.7 percent from the field and 24.1 percent from 3-point range, but he did manage to make 81.5 percent of his free throws.

We saw some epic showdowns against Shaquille O"Neal, Steve Nash, the Boston Celtics, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony. Mostly, we saw a superstar looking to put on a show for an expanded audience in an overall stellar and historic career. -- By Zach Harper

Harden found his mojo finally against San Antonio. (USATSI)

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Houston Rockets 88, San Antonio Spurs 84

Kawhi Leonard will put the clamps on everybody: It"s hard to imagine the struggle that NBA stars must face going against Kawhi Leonard when he"s defending you. You"re used to being that much more skilled or that much quicker or that much stronger or that much better or all of those things against most matchups in your basketball career. You"ve shined because the hard work you put in over the years comes through in these moments of execution and excellence, which is something so many NBA players fail to find consistency in doing.

Against Kawhi? You can forget all that. His reach with those hands makes even the slightest moments of advantage dissipate quickly into the night. He"s smart enough to anticipate what you want to do. He"s a hard enough worker to show constant determination in stopping you. And he seems to relish these moments of turning stars away from getting buckets, even if his expressionless demeanor makes you think otherwise. Kawhi puts those clamps on you.

That"s what he helped Danny Green and the rest of his Spurs teammates do to James Harden in the first half. Harden was 1-of-6 from the field with five assists, three turnovers, and just two points. He didn"t have a trip to the charity stripe. Harden eventually broke through in the second half, but even then he was working his tail off to get those attempts.

Leonard is a monster. An absolute monster. And that doesn"t even include what he does offensively. -- By Zach Harper

Don"t look now but the Rockets had some fight left in them ... for now: As poor as the Rockets looked in their 13-point second quarter against the Spurs, which seemingly put San Antonio in the driver"s seat for this game, they looked just as resilient in the second half when they snatched control of the game and ended up putting a very good effort against this vaunted Spurs defense. In a 50-point second half, the Rockets shot 50 percent from the field, forced the Spurs into bad, sloppy decisions, and even managed to minimize their own mistakes by allowing just two points on seven turnovers. This is the type of resiliency we saw from the Rockets last season.

I don"t think that means the Rockets are necessarily back or fixed or cured or care. We"ve seen flashes of this from them this season, only to have them throw it out the window a game or two later. But to do it against an organization like the Spurs -- especially this Spurs team -- has to make Houston fans feel a little warm and fuzzy from the eggnog and hoops on Christmas. A big part of that was James Harden, who woke up from his first-half slumber to score 18 points after the break.

A bigger part of that might have been the Rockets" defense, which we hadn"t seen much of since last season. During the 2014-15 campaign, the Rockets were able to slow down opposing attacks. Against the Spurs on Christmas, they took away a lot of early actions in the Spurs" offense and forced role players to try individual efforts far too often. Even if for a holiday night, it was nice to see the Rockets finally look like they care an adequate amount. -- By Zach Harper

Draymond Green got to flex a bit against the Cavs. (USATSI)

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Golden State Warriors 89, Cleveland Cavaliers 83

DrayGod: Draymond Green was unbelievable in this game, even for him. The Warriors forward-center had to step up with the Cavaliers absolutely dedicated to taking Stephen Curry out of the equation. And while Curry scored 19 (it was on 6-of-15 shooting), it was Green that really stole the show on both ends. Green put up 20 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists along with two blocks and a series of absolutely huge plays. From early on when the Cavaliers doubled Curry out of the pick and roll, Green made the Cavaliers pay, finding Andrew Bogut early in the first on a lob for a dunk. He drained a 3 to punish Kevin Love for stepping off of him to help inside. He knocked a rebound off a missed LeBron finger roll back off the backboard to kick-start a break. He made play after play after play and that"s a huge part of why the Warriors got arguably their biggest win of the season. Once again, Curry is the Warriors" best player, but Draymond Green is their most important and if you contain Curry, Green will find ways to beat you. -- By Matt Moore

Not a great day by design: Stephen Curry was limited by a calf injury that forced him out of the game for a prolonged stretch in the second quarter. He also shot 6-of-15 from the field, which isn"t bad but isn"t good, and scored just 19 points. Some of that was the injury, but much of it was the Cavaliers" defense which adopted an "anyone but Curry" approach, which is the smartest one they could take. The Cavaliers blitzed Curry constantly out of the pick and roll. Yes, it allowed Draymond Green his awesome game, but if you have to choose, you choose to make Draymond Green beat you. Whether that"s a preview of how the Cavaliers would play the Warriors in a Finals rematch is unclear, but it was apparent that they were dedicated to making him have to work as much as possible, which is a smart approach.

One more thing on that calf injury. Trainers were seen working on Curry"s calf all the way down to his foot, which includes his surgically repaired ankle that gave him so much trouble early on in his career. Any undue stress on that leg is bad for the structures the surgery put in place, so don"t be surprised if after some tests, Curry gets rest in the very near future. The Warriors are extra careful with injury -- and never more so than with Curry -- and never more so with Curry than with the ankle. -- By Matt Moore

The excuse machine: The Cavaliers can say, "Well, Kyrie Irving wasn"t healthy and he played just 26 minutes." The Warriors can say, "Well, Harrison Barnes didn"t even play." The Cavaliers can say, "The Cavs just missed shots." The Warriors can say, "One of the best defenses in the league does that to you." The Cavaliers can say, "The opportunity was there." The Warriors can say, "And they couldn"t take advantage."

Round and round it goes, but with the way the Cavaliers managed to defend the usually unstoppable Warriors, it should be noted that Cleveland remain maybe the toughest challenge to Golden State"s dominance. The Cavs are also still a firm step behind the Warriors due to their inability to make them pay for their turnovers, or for how they swarm LeBron James. More on that from our colleague Ken Berger. -- By Matt Moore

Westbrook vs. Rose became a thing again. (USATSI)

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Chicago Bulls 105, Oklahoma City Thunder 96

Defense beats offense, this time: The Thunder have the second-best offense in the league, but they never got going on Friday. Kevin Durant (29 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, 11-21 FG) and Russell Westbrook (26 points, seven rebounds, eight assists, six steals, 9-22 FG) got their numbers, but Chicago controlled the game in a wire-to-wire win. Aside from three 3-pointers from Anthony Morrow in the fourth quarter and some second-chance points from Enes Kanter, Oklahoma City"s supporting cast was pretty much invisible. Jimmy Butler guarded Durant one-on-one and the Bulls stayed solid.

That"s how the Chicago Bulls are supposed to play basketball, Butler said in his postgame TV interview.

While four of Chicago"s starters finished in double figures, the Thunder got a total of 11 points on 5-for-20 shooting from Serge Ibaka, Steven Adams and Andre Roberson, the guys next to Durant and Westbrook in their starting five. It"s not as if Dion Waiters and D.J. Augustin helped off the bench, either. Overall, Oklahoma City shot just 38.5 percent, including 25 percent from deep.

Against great defensive teams like the Bulls, OKC needs to get production from more than just its stars. The hope was that Billy Donovan"s new system would be more conducive to that happening. Not sure that"s the case. -- By James Herbert

Rose vs Westbrook: Derrick Rose always gets up to play against Russell Westbrook and on Christmas, this trend continued. Attacking the paint and changing direction, Rose finished the game with 19 points and four rebounds. Rose may have been too amped up to take on Westbrook because he ended up fouling out of the game. But his energy was huge for the Bulls all game and he helped fuel an 8-0 run in the third quarter that pushed Chicago"s lead to double digits, which the Thunder could never come back from.

Westbrook won the individual head-to-head matchup but Rose and the Bulls walked away with the win. A win the inconsistent Bulls desperately needed. -- By Ananth Pandian

The Bulls and Thunder were looking fresh on Christmas. (USATSI)

OKC"s Christmas uniforms are glorious: Can we get the Thunder to play in their Christmas Day uniforms for the rest of the season? Out of all of the teams playing on Christmas, the Thunder"s holiday uniforms are a significant upgrade. The Thunder have one of the worst uniforms in the league. They are bland and just generally uninspired. Sure, OKC"s Christmas Day uniforms are not in their primary blue and orange colors but they look so much better and are more aesthetically pleasing. Come on, OKC and NBA, make it happen. -- By Ananth Pandian

Bobby Portis is legit: Collecting splinters on the bench for the first quarter of the season, an injury to Joakim Noah has opened up playing time for Portis and he has delivered. Against the Thunder, Portis finished the game with seven points, five rebounds and three assists in just under 20 minutes. Playing for the majority of the third quarter and some of the fourth, Portis" hustle and effort helped Chicago extend their lead to double digits.

The Bulls have a plethora of forwards and with rumors about Chicago contemplating trading Noah or Taj Gibson or Pau Gasol, Portis showed on Christmas that he can be counted on and perhaps one of those players could possibly be expendable. -- By Ananth Pandian

The Brow"s wingspan is alien technology. (USATSI)

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Miami Heat 94, New Orleans Pelicans 88 (OT)

Fly Pelicans ... fly? The Pelicans came back, made this a game and forced overtime, but they remain as depressing as ever. Despite Anthony Davis having a 20-10-3-3-3 line in the first half alone, you never felt like they knew what they were doing on offense. It wasn"t just the multiple times that they came out of a timeout confused; it was the apparent absence of a plan in the half-court all game long. Davis" supporting cast was Sixers-esque -- nine minutes into the third quarter, he had more points than all of his teammates combined. He finished with 29 points, 15 rebounds, four assists, four steals and four blocks in 50 minutes.

Tyreke Evans played one of the worst games of his career -- he had six points on 2-for-9 shooting in 35 minutes, with five turnovers and a few brain farts -- and it seems crazy that New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry is still trying to play him at point guard. Eric Gordon missed shots from all over the court. No one helped Davis much except for Ryan Anderson, who scored 18 points and hit some big shots in the second half. It"s been a while since you could blame the Pelicans" struggles on injuries, and it"s getting harder and harder to imagine them turning things around.

Remember when we were excited about Alvin Gentry turning New Orleans into a running team? It had two fast-break points. Two! -- By James Herbert

Oh my Bosh: You can"t get particularly excited about the Heat after a win like this -- they never should have let the Pelicans get close, and it"s disconcerting that their offense totally died in the fourth quarter at home. This team obviously needs more shooting -- it went 6-for-26 from 3-point range -- and Goran Dragic continues to look less than fully comfortable. The work of Chris Bosh, though, should be appreciated.

Bosh had a tough assignment on Christmas Day, and he was ready. Bosh had to spend his afternoon trying to make things difficult for Anthony Davis, and he managed to lead the Heat in scoring, too. He finished with 30 points and 10 rebounds in 42 minutes, going 11-for-25 and dishing four assists with only one turnover. He scored 14 of those 30 in the fourth quarter and overtime.

Miami should never have needed Bosh and Dwyane Wade to take over the game in overtime, but they did it. The two of them outscored New Orleans on its own in the extra frame. After Wade hit a midrange jumper, the dagger came when he found Bosh in traffic off a pick-and-roll for a 3-point play. -- by James Herbert

Source: http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/25426615/nba-christmas-day-takeaways-bulls-surprise-warriors-still-great