NEW YORK – It probably wasn’t a tough call to begin with, but scheduling Victor Wembanyama at Madison Square Garden for his Christmas debut was the right call for a league fighting for attention.
Wembanyama turned in one of the greatest performances in the NBA’s 77 years of playing on Christmas, but the New York Knicks, one of the league’s most popular franchises, beat his San Antonio Spurs 117-114 to start the league’s annual Yuletide slate of games.
Wembanyama, the 2023 No. 1 pick, reigning Rookie of the Year and ascending 7-foot-4 superstar who turns 21 next month and can seemingly do anything on a basketball court, finished with 42 points, 18 rebounds, four assists and four blocks in 40 minutes. He nearly tied the record for the most points scored in a Christmas debut, and no one had ever turned in a combination of that many points, rebounds, assists and blocks on Christmas.
And yet, the French sensation’s huge game was not enough because Mikal Bridges also had a Christmas for the ages with a season-high 41 points and six 3s. Karl-Anthony Towns, who matched up against Wemby, added 21 points and nine rebounds, and Jalen Brunson finished with 20 points.
This was the first Christmas game with two 40-point scorers since 1961 (Wilt Chamberlain and Richie Guerin both went over 40 points on that day, also here at Madison Square Garden). In a separate 1961 Christmas game, Oscar Robertson and Elgin Baylor also had dueling 40-point performances.
A MIKAL BRIDGES CHRISTMAS TAKEOVER. 🎄
🔥 41 PTS (15 in 4Q)
🔥 17-25 FGM
🔥 6 3PMSeason-high for Bridges as the @nyknicks win 5 straight 📈🗽 pic.twitter.com/omBEt2ecTO
— NBA (@NBA) December 25, 2024
Wembanyama nearly tied Chamberlain’s record of 45 points in a Christmas debut, which has stood for 65 years. And for a minute, Wemby actually did tie him. With 6:34 left and the Spurs leading by five, Wembanyama knocked down a 3-pointer that would have given him 45 points, but an official’s review determined that a foul called on the Knicks away from the ball occurred before Wemby’s shot went up. He was held scoreless for the remainder of the game, and the Spurs could’ve used his scoring or another rebound.
The Knicks went ahead for good on Miles McBride’s 3-pointer with 2:43 remaining, and were up 116-111 with 1:18 left on Bridges’ final bucket of the game, giving Bridges 15 fourth-quarter points. The Spurs allowed two offensive rebounds in the game’s final 20 seconds and failed to get a last shot to attempt to tie the game.
As it is, Wembanyama’s points are the third-most in a Christmas debut, trailing only Wilt and Tracy McGrady’s 43 points in 2000. Wemby easily exceeded the Spurs’ Christmas scoring record previously held by LaMarcus Aldridge (33 points in 2016). If you’re wondering, LeBron James, whom Wemby could replace one day as the face of the league, debuted with 34 points in a loss in his first Christmas game as a rookie in 2003.
Bridges wasn’t going to set the team scoring record on Christmas – Bernard King’s 60 points in 1984 is not only the most by a Knick, but the most by any player on this day. But the top 10 scoring performances by any player on Christmas go from 60 down to 44 points, so Bridges’ effort (17-of-25 shooting, six 3s) is one of the better games in history on the most important day of the NBA’s regular season each year.
This story will be updated.
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(Photo: Luke Hales / Getty Images)
