All LeBron wanted for Christmas was a whistle

Even without Steph Curry or Isaiah Thomas, the Cavaliers and Warriors put on a dang show in the Christmas Day main event. But the game was marred by two things: circumstances that led to incessant replays in the closing minutes and three big missed foul calls on Kevin Durant.

I don’t agree with my man Mike Sykes II that the replays ruined the game -- watching basketball with a group, as many do on Christmas, means that replay allows debate and jokes and, like, spinach dip breaks. It was a bit much, and we know games are more manic and exciting without replay or timeouts, but it was fine.

One particular foul no-call was rough, though. We identified three potential whistles in the link above. Two of those are fringe calls, and unlikely to be called against a good defender like Durant in critical moments. On that first bump, LeBron sold the contact only after the ball was going out of bounds. There’s certainly contact while Durant rides LeBron’s hip, but there’s that much contact on many dribble-drives. You can call it, but you’re setting up a three-hour game if you call every one.

The other possession has another Durant hip bump on LeBron -- see above; you can call it, but you probably wouldn’t want to -- but then a true missed call as Durant comes down on LeBron’s arm on the layup attempt. There’s just no way that is clean. That call -- reviewed only to see whether Durant touched the ball before it went out of bounds -- sealed the game. The Warriors won.

Durant also said during that little replay break that LeBron is “too big” for calls like that ... which, uh, Durant knows he is himself a 7-footer who complains about calls a lot, right?

The Warriors’ win and Rockets’ loss put Golden State back in sole possession of the No. 1 seed.

PHI 105, NYK 98
CLE 92, GSW 99
WAS 111, BOS 103
HOU 107, OKC 112
MIN 121, LAL 104

The Raptors, who never play on Christmas despite being quite good for a while now, are now in first place in the East. You know how every good team says that they don’t get enough respect? This is only true of the Raptors. Completely under the radar as an awesome, fun team and a solid franchise.

Basketball Gods bless Wizards vs. Celtics in all its forms. John Wall was unreal in the final minutes, cutting up the potent Boston defense.

Look, the Thunder have figured it out. What a huge win. It’s a huge win not in the sense that OKC was flailing and needed a victory to knock them back on track. It’s a huge win in that it proves the month of December -- OKC was 10-3 going into Christmas -- wasn’t a fluke against a fluffy schedule. This is a bonafide win over a darn good opponent on a big stage. It’s real. The offense is climbing the rankings, too.

The Knicks-Sixers game was quite good, despite it essentially being a Joel Embiid vs. Enes Kanter showdown!

Fun new Kawhi Leonard Nike ad. But Kyrie Irving’s meme-laden Nike ad was even better.

I am into these Utah Jazz sunset uniforms as an artistic statement. That said, they might look awful in actual action. I fear there is going to be no middle ground here. Zach Lowe has the deep dive and a preview of the matching court.

Shout out to Tom Haberstroh for turning something tough into something good. And shout out to Mama Stroh.

Miss any of the special Christmas sneakers?

Marc Stein on why the Warriors are comfortable outside the spotlight this season.

Here it is: the most Draymond Green possession of all-time. Speaking of Dray, he also put the Arthur meme on his sneakers.

Doc Rivers’ rules about family on the team plane might have ruined the Orlando Magic’s chances of landing Tim Duncan to team up with Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady.

NBA TV has a couple of games on Tuesday night: Bulls-Bucks at 8 p.m. ET and Kings-Clippers at 10:30. You are not obligated to watch either. Pacers-Pistons at 7 on League Pass should be fun, though! Full schedule here.

Be excellent to each other.