Cleveland Cavaliers: Ranking the 5 best Christmas Day games in team history
Christmas is a special time and has come with memorable NBA moments. Here are the best Christmas games in Cavalier history.
In the words of Andy Williams, "It's the most wonderful time of the year." That's because Christmas is right around the corner and that means there is a full slate of highly anticipated NBA games.
Christmas is one of the most important regular season dates for the NBA. They put the most watched teams, popular players, the best rivalries, or have the best current rivalries play on Christmas. This leads to teams like the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, Philadelphia 76ers, Boston Celtics, and whatever team LeBron James is on, playing every Christmas.
LeBron James has gotten a Christmas Day game for the last 17 years, 18 total, including this season. James has spent 11 seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers, so they have been a part of very memorable Christmas Day games. Here is a ranking of their five best.
5. 2017: Warriors defeat Cavaliers 99-92
Even though the Cavaliers lost this matchup in 2017, this was still a very great game. This was the third consecutive Christmas Day matchup between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors and they had matched up in the Finals for the previous three seasons.
This year was the second year of the Steph Curry and Kevin Durant Warriors while it also being the first year the Cavaliers are playing without their 2011 first overall pick, Kyrie Irving. This matchup was very anticipated to see if the LeBron James could one, make the finals without Irving, and two, compete with the Warriors.
This game did not disappoint as there were nine total ties, seven different lead changes (with the largest lead being nine points, which lasted for 20 seconds of game time) and the games tied 92 all with just under two minutes left.
LeBron James had a poor shooting night, scoring 20 points on 38.9 percent shooting, but the highlight of the game was Kevin Love having 31 points, 18 rebounds, and six 3-pointers made, the fifth most made on Christmas.
The rivalry history, the game hosting Steph Curry, LeBron James, and Kevin Durant, while also being a nip and tuck game, allows it to be one of the best Christmas Day games in Cavaliers history, despite them losing.