the 10 best individual performances

Christmas day for NBA fans is always a special day, because it helps us to face the endless lunches of December 25th knowing that, once finished, we will be able to enjoy three or four games of the highest level.
The program that the League organizes for the Christmas Day it is always conditioned by the very high slice of public that it manages to involve, thanks to the time difference with Europe: so what better opportunity to face the best teams of the season?

There has never been a shortage of top-level and fought-to-the-finish races, as well as legendary individual performances. In this ranking we retrace the 10 best individual manufacturing performances, with some really interesting backstories.

10) 25 Dicembre 2003 – TRACY MCGRADY (Orlando Magic)

41 points, 8 rebounds, 11 assist, 3 steal, 15/29 al tiro

Spoiler: You will not read the name of T-Mac once in this ranking.

LeBron James vs Tracy McGrady: this would be enough. LeBron, in his rookie year, scores 35 points. On the other hand, T-Mac is irrepressible and puts 41 on the scoresheet (shooting 5/9 from the arc). The Magic wins, but only after an extra time, with the last basket of the match being a triple by McGrady, who definitively decrees the winner of that memorable challenge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8P2L_D_bGo

9) 25 Dicembre 2004 – KOBE BRYANT (Los Angeles Lakers)

42 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds, 9 turnovers, 13/13 for free

A player who has always tried to break all possible and imaginable records could not fail to be included in this ranking.

The Los Angeles Lakers on Christmas Day face the Miami Heat, a team that during the off-season acquired Shaquille O’Neal through trade, back from three titles with the Lakers.
Let’s not fool ourselves: we all know how Shaq and Kobe left, so it couldn’t be a race like any other.

Bryant gave his best and nothing different could be expected. It wasn’t enough to win the game against a team that’s stronger and deeper than the Lakers. Miami for its part, however, had to struggle from start to finish to win the race by only two points, thanks to a mistake on Bryant’s own siren.

8) 25 Dicembre 1992 – MICHAEL JORDAN (Chicago Bulls)

42 points, 8 rebounds. 5 assists, 3 steals, 12/16 free throws

In this special ranking could not miss “His Airness” which has played many Christmas competitions. In 1992, the Bulls won two consecutive rings, are preparing to complete the three-peat and Michael Jordan will retire for the first time of his career in 10 months.

The opponents are the Knicks, bitter rivals in the 90s: Jordan treads the parquet for 41 minutes and closes the game with 42 points after having made 57 two days earlier. A curiosity about that game: Jordan never scored a three-pointer in this game.

The two teams will then meet again in the month of May in the Conference semifinals: once again Jordan and his Bulls will win, but only after winning game 7.

7) 25 Dicembre 2000 – TRACY MCGRADY (Orlando Magic)

43 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks, 15/19 for free

Spoiler Two: This isn’t the last time we’ll find T-Mac in this ranking.

The Indiana Pacers, one of the top Eastern Conference teams of the past 10 years, are hosting the Orlando Magic at the Conseco Fieldhouse. In the ranks of the Magic, however, Tracy McGrady is ready for the big leap and at the end of the year will win the Most Improved Player award, ending the season over 26 points on average.

In the defeat against the Pacers he scores 43 points, joking with the defenders who tried to limit the excessive power that he could transmit when he was admired on a basketball court.

6) December 25, 2010 – KEVIN DURANT (Oklahoma City Thunder)

44 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 2 stoppages, 14/20 shooting

KD is a spectacular player, always a versatile striker and due to his physical characteristics also very difficult to mark: a 2.08 meter wing with that quickness of feet and that variety of offensive solutions has never been seen on a basketball court.

Durant is particularly inspired and in 41 minutes of play he scored 44 points, shooting 70% from the field.
In the third quarter out of 32 team points only KD scores 21. The poor Nuggets, without Carmelo Anthony, tried to battle the Thunder, but in the end they had to surrender.

5) 25 Dicembre 1959 – WILT CHAMBERLAIN (Philadelphia Warriors)

45 points, 34 rebounds, 2 assists, 15/24 free throws

In his rookie season, after the year spent as a globetrotter with the Harlem Globetrotters, Wilt Chamberlain immediately showed everyone the “decent” production qualities he had and conquered the scene also in the NBA.

On Christmas Day he takes the field against the Syracuse Nationals and with his Warriors he wins the race for 129 to 121, making an impressive double double when compared to what those numbers mean. On the other hand, it is completely normal if you consider the fact that Wilt Chamberlain made it.

4) 25 Dicembre 2002 – TRACY MCGRADY (Orlando Magic)

46 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, 14/26 shooting, 18/21 free

Yes, Tracy McGrady holds a truly bizarre record. In his career he played only three games on December 25th and his Christmas Day points average is 42.6 points. Of the three, 2002’s performance against the Detroit Pistons is the most stunning.

Legend has it that McGrady did not have to play this game: returning from one of many, many, back injuries he was forced to miss three of the last four games.

Against what will be remembered as one of the most “uncomfortable” NBA defenses ever faced, McGrady drives defenders mad. If you look closely at the race, there are times when you can see a certain rigidity in the movements. For the rest of the game, when it lights up, there is none for anyone.

3) December 25, 1966 – RICK BARRY (San Francisco Warriors)

50 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 19/35 shooting

It was a completely different NBA, there is no doubt about that. Barry is in his second year in the league and it was immediately clear that he was destined to do great things in his career (5 times in the first team, a title and the mvp palm of the finals in 1975, 8 appearances at the All Star Game).

Against the Cincinnati Royals Barry made a historic performance, playing for 47 minutes and scoring 50 points when the three-point line did not yet exist.

2) 25 Dicembre 1961 – WILT CHAMBERLAIN (Philadelphia Warriors)

59 points, 36 rebounds, 23/44 shooting

The man of records. The 36 rebounds captured in 57 minutes of play cannot go unnoticed. Yes, it even took two extra times to decree the winning team between the then Philadelphia Warriors and the New York Knicks.

The other incredible thing is that Chamberlain lost that game with the result of 135 to 136.

Three months later Wilt will take his revenge, in the legendary 100-point race (against those Knicks).

1) 25 Dicembre 1984 – BERNARD KING (New York Knicks)

60 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 19/30 shooting, 22/26 free

Chamberlain’s previous record holds for 23 years. For over 36 years, Bernard King has remained the player capable of scoring the most points in a single race on Christmas Day.

In 41 minutes not even a three-point shot. At half-time King had already written the beauty of 40 points on the scoresheet.
Needless to say, the Knicks lost that match to the New Jersey Nets in front of the Madison Square Garden crowd, completely enraptured by King’s performance.

Journalist and collaborator from Udine, he has been writing for BasketUniverso since February 2014. He is a big fan of stars and stripes basketball, with a special focus on his Chicago Bulls.