NBA Christmas Day 2013: Warriors survive Clippers in wild nightcap

In case you missed the incident, here is how Griffin, who had received another questionable technical foul earlier in the game, got ejected:

While it’s nice that the league has admitted the call was wrong, it remains a mystery how the three referees on the court came to their conclusion after a lengthy replay review.

This from Arash Markazi at ESPN Los Angeles:

It didn’t appear that the Warriors were doing anything dirty or malicious out there, and this has become a heated matchup, whether you want to call it a rivalry or not. It certainly makes for some pretty good late-night television.

It was obviously a competitive game up to that point, even with Griffin in the game. So his ejection was a major factor down the stretch. He finished the game with 20 points, 14 rebounds and five assists in just 33 minutes.

Paul led the way for Los Angeles with 26 points and 11 assists, and Jamal Crawford tacked on 19 of his own.

That big deficit was clearly difficult for the Spurs to overcome. The Rockets led by nine points at halftime, quickly expanded that to 13 early in the third quarter, and never trailed by fewer than three points in the second half. For every rally San Antonio mustered, Houston responded with a big shot from one of its many offensive weapons.

At one point in the fourth quarter, Harden scored 11 consecutive points for the Rockets. Many of his 28 points came on absurd step-back jumpers and casual three-pointers, the kind of stuff that makes him one of the most devastating perimeters scorers in the league.

Russell Westbrook is doing everything on the court against the Knicks today: 14 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists... and he even wiped the floor:

We’ll leave this one up to our bad joke friend Mike Prada:

And a very swaggy Christmas to YOU, Nick Young!

The Knicks’ struggles through the second quarter can be summed up in one Beno Udrih GIF:

• Prada’s pictures: Phoenix’s 2-headed dragon and Drummond’s development

It’s well known that Kevin Garnett is one of the most foul-mouthed NBA players when on the court -- whether via actual, legit four-lettering, or via saying horrible things to people.

Best part: the “MERRY CHRISTMAS” banner at the bottom right of the screen.

Brooklyn struggled on offense, shooting just 35 percent from the field as a team. They scored 15 points in the second quarter, but it was the third quarter where the game got away from the Nets. Mirza Teletovich scored 10 points in the third, but Chicago outscored Brooklyn 36-20 and built a comfortable lead going into the fourth quarter.

• Prada’s pictures: Phoenix’s 2-headed dragon and Drummond’s development

Basketball players become famous playing a sport for which their enormous bodies are perfectly crafted, make millions of dollars, and then generally tend to use a portion of that money trying to master a sport which their bodies are horrible for: golf.

Notably, Charles Barkley:

• Prada’s pictures: Phoenix’s 2-headed dragon and Drummond’s development

• Sunday Shootaround: Hello again, Danny Granger

If you didn’t know by now, the NBA is doing something new and rather unique with their Christmas Day jerseys this season. Rather than the traditional looking uniform, the 10 teams playing Wednesday will be wearing sleeved jerseys that kind of look like pajamas. Or basically just a glorified shirsey.

Instead of numbers and team name in writing on the fronts of the jerseys, the fronts are adorned with a “BIG” shiny team logo. And they really are big. Almost obnoxiously big. The fronts also have the NBA logo at the top. There are numbers on the sleeves, while the backs look more like the normal NBA jersey.

• Prada’s pictures: Phoenix’s 2-headed dragon and Drummond’s development

• Sunday Shootaround: Hello again, Danny Granger

Iguodala is shooting a career-high 43.1 percent from three-point range, benefiting from being a complementary player in team’s offense.

When: Dec. 25, 10:30 p.m. ET

Westbrook himself has been magnificent lately, averaging 23 points, 7.1 rebounds and 8.6 assists over his last 10 games -- all wins except for that Toronto one -- and shooting 48 percent from the field. His main competition for Western Conference Player of the Month is his teammate: Kevin Durant is averaging 28.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 4.4 assists in December, shooting an outrageous 53 percent from the field, 49 percent on threes and 90 percent on free throws. Oklahoma’s supporting cast has been solid, but its two superstars have never been better.

Just about everything has gone wrong for New York. It’s not only the dismal record, it’s the constant drama and the same mistakes being repeated over and over again. Every time the Knicks disappoint, there’s speculation about head coach Mike Woodson’s job security.

But just about two months into the season, those dreams look dead. Brooklyn and Chicago enter this matinee outside the playoff picture. The Bulls have lost four of their last five games, seven of nine and 13 of 17 dating back to a couple of games before Rose’s season ended with a torn right medial meniscus on Nov. 22 in Portland. The Nets’ heartbreaking 121-120 overtime loss in Philadelphia last Friday seemed like a low point, but the real low point was the next day, when Brooklyn learned that Brook Lopez had broken his foot and would miss the rest of the year. The outlook is bleak for both teams.

The Bulls have eclipsed the 100-point mark just three times since Rose was knocked out of action on Nov. 22, and only two of those occurred in regulation. Their offense is struggling mightily with the injuries. Luckily, their Christmas Day opponent is having issues of its own.

Christmas Day is arguably the NBA’s biggest regular-season event and we’ve got no less than five games on the docket. Unfortunately, the schedule-makers did us no favors with some of these matchups, but we’ll play along.

Take your time opening presents. Enjoy a late brunch. Go out and make a snowman. There’s nothing to see here except two beaten down teams staring at the harsh glare of tattered expectations and broken dreams. But hey, maybe Kevin Garnett and Joakim Noah can get into the holiday spirit. Just keep those courtside mics on a 35-second delay.