10 NBA things to watch for on Christmas Day

5. The Clint Capela-Steven Adams frontcourt war

The plethora of All-Star guards and wings deserve most of the attention in the Rockets-Thunder matchup, but the battle of the bigs down low should be a captivating watch for fans of old-school basketball.

Do-it-all unicorns such as Joel Embiid, Kristaps Porzingis, Karl-Anthony Towns and Nikola Jokic often get hyped as the top young centers in the NBA, but throwback big men Steven Adams and Clint Capela likewise deserve consideration in those discussions. Neither Adams nor Capela will step out from beyond the arc and drill 3-pointers consistently, but both are defensive mavens who make life hell for opposing bigs while feasting on easy opportunities around the basket.

Both Adams and Capela are in the midst of career years, as opponents can’t devote nearly as much defensive attention to them given their All-Star teammates roaming outside of the paint. Adams is chipping in 13.7 points on a blistering 63.5 percent shooting, 8.8 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 1.0 blocks in a career-high 32.6 minutes per game, while Capela has brought Lob City to Houston, as evidenced by his 13.7 points on a league-best 68.7 percent shooting, 11.0 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in just 25.1 minutes per night.

Walling off driving lanes will be critical for both teams in this Christmas Day matchup, as it’ll force the superstar guards and wings to bomb away from deep rather than feast on easy buckets. The OKThree vs. the Harden-Paul duo will draw most of the attention in this game, but whichever big man gets the best of his counterpart could go a long way toward determining the victor.

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