NBA Christmas Day Open Thread

Good morning. Sorry about my absence the last couple of days; flu struck me. Better now, thanks for asking.

Christmas is a big day in the NBA as ABC kicks off its national broadcast schedule.  Five games on the slate today:

Chicago Bulls at Brooklyn Nets: 
11:00 am Central, ESPN

Two of the disappointing Eastern Conference teams. The Bulls lost Derrick Rose for the season again, and the Nets have just looked old (and have lost Brook Lopez for the season).

Oklahoma City Thunder at New York Knicks
1:30 pm ABC

The Knicks have been terrible, the Thunder are fighting it out at the top of the West.

Miami Heat at Los Angeles Lakers
4:00 pm ABC

The Lakers have lost Kobe Bryant again and have been predictably mediocre, the Heat are one of the two good teams in the East. LeBron James remains, by some distance, the best basketball player in the world.

Houston Rockets at San Antonio Spurs
7:00 pm ESPN

The Spurs are once again cruising along behind their incredible depth while the Rockets have had some ups and downs as they figure things out with Dwight Howard, but are still a strong 18-11 on the season.

Los Angeles Clippers at Golden State Warriors
9:30 pm ESPN

The Clippers have won 8 of their last 9 to take control of the Pacific division while Golden State has been struggling to find last year's form.

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you all for reading and contributing to Canis Hoopus. It's been a great experience running this place for the last few months, and that's mostly because of all of you who read and comment on the things we write here.

For those of you who celebrate Christmas: enjoy. I hope you have a wonderful day with your families.

If you are on your own today, please join us here for our usual nonsense.

Thanks. By the power vested in me by the Flying Spaghetti Monster, I declare this holiday thread open.