OKC Thunder: TI writing team dives in with a holiday roundtable
Question 4:
What’s your favorite memory from an NBA Christmas Day game?
Stephen Dolan: Do you want to know how spoiled we are, as Thunder fans? I don’t even have an answer for this. This will be the ninth consecutive year the Thunder have laced them up on December 25. The Raptors have only played once, in 2001. The Wherever Grizzlies and the Charlotte Whoever have never played.
OKC is respected, noticed, and prestigious. Let’s not take it for granted.
Justin Cooper: The Thunder have had some pretty memorable Christmas day games, but I’m gonna have to say, my favorite memory is the first Christmas day game I remember watching. It was 1992, I was nine years old, Bulls versus the Knicks, Jordan dropped 42 in a Bulls win. Classic. The only thing that may have made this game better is if they were playing at the Garden.
Alex Mcewen: Thunder related, is when Westbrook mopped the floor in the Garden in 2013. It was humorous, glorious, and perfectly Westbrook. To go along with mop duties, Russ also posted a triple-double, at the time it was his seventh and only the fifth ever on Christmas.
Non-Thunder related goes to Warriors vs. Clippers in 2013. The mini-melee between then Clippers Power Forward and former Warriors Center Andrew Bogut speaks for itself and can be viewed here.
Austin Sternlicht: I had a surprisingly tough time with this one. I’m going to go with the 2012 Christmas because it was opening day after the lockout. That whole Summer going to Fall, there was no certainty when the lockout would end. Thankfully, the kinks were resolved and the season was mostly salvaged. Although the wait was painfully long, having opening day also be the biggest regular season day of the year was pretty cool.
Noah Schulte: I don’t have too many NBA Christmas memories mostly because I’m almost never near a TV on Christmas, but I do vividly remember watching the Washington Wizards play the Milwaukee Bucks and thinking that Thon Maker was going to be special.
Lawrence George: My favorite game actually came in OKC’s 112-107 victory over Houston last season. Andre Roberson is one of my favorite Thunder players and he locked James Harden up down the stretch with his stellar defense. After all the love Houston was receiving, this was a fantastic statement game by OKC who was really emerging as a Western Conference contender.
The OK3 had one of their best games as a collective, combining for 74 points on 28-57 shooting.
Tamberlyn Richardson: Just as the Warriors were melding into their current dominance they played a Clippers team (who, at the time) I abhorred. It offered everything including arguments, technicals and scoring. I’ve always been a sucker for up and coming youthful squads. It would be the equivalent of the Kings playing the Dubs this season and accomplishing the same thing.