2. Damian Lillard vs. Donovan Mitchell
The Christmas Day nightcap will feature a showdown between two of the league’s highest-scoring guards.
On one side, there’s Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard, who’s currently fifth in the NBA with a career-high 27.2 points per game. On the other, there’s Utah Jazz 2-guard Donovan Mitchell, who sits 22nd leaguewide with 20.9 points per game.
Lillard is shooting a career-best 45.0 percent overall and 39.8 percent from deep, helping to keep the Trail Blazers in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race. Not only is the 28-year-old barreling toward his fourth All-Star berth, but he could be a dark horse in the MVP conversation if he keeps up this level of play.
Mitchell, meanwhile, has been a bit disappointing after his sizzling rookie season. He’s averaging slightly more points per game on a slightly reduced minutes load, but his efficiency has plunged from 43.7 percent as a rookie to 41.1 percent this year. The Jazz’s lack of secondary shot-creators has hampered Mitchell, as opponents are selling out against him defensively and daring his teammates to beat them.
If this game stays close heading into crunch time, it could devolve into a mano-a-mano showdown between Lillard and Mitchell. That wouldn’t be such a bad way to end 10-plus hours of NBA action on Christmas Day, would it?