Written by: Bryan Jolly
Ah, Christmas in Los Angeles. Palm trees lovingly adorned with lights, temperatures dipping below 60 and, of course, the Lakers on ABC. The marketing geniuses that they are over there, you can usually expected to see the Lake Show (a perpetually huge draw) matched up against, for lack of a better term, “the team you want to see them play most.”
In 2000, it was conference rival Portland and Rasheed Wallace. In 2001, it was Iverson’s Sixers in an NBA Finals rematch . In 2002, it was Bibby, C-Webb and the Kings. In 2003 everyone was talking about the Yao/Shaq match up, so naturally, they played the Rockets.
Then Shaq left. Supposedly driven out of town by Kobe. The feud between the two former teammates becomes a ubiquitous news story. It’s all we hear about the entire summer. ESPN drills it into our consciousness. And with that, the puppeteers at ABC decided that the “team we wanted to see them play most” was whichever team had Shaq on it.
Since the departure of O’Neal in 2004, his team has faced the Lakers on Christmas day five times. In fact, with the exception of 2008 when the Lakers played the defending champion Celtics, Shaq’s team has faced the Lakers every Christmas since leaving the Lakers.
The 2000s haven’t exactly been kind to the Lakers’ Christmas Day Efforts. Of the four previously mentioned Christmas Day games, the Lakers only managed to beat the Rockets in 2003. But when Shaq left, he seemed to suck the last of the air out of the proverbial holiday balloon. The next three seasons in a row, the Heat beat the Lakers on Christmas day. Let’s take a quick look:
Next: The Ghosts of Christmas Past
Dec 25th, 2004: The Lakers lose an overtime thriller 102-104 despite 42 out of Kobe. The Wade/Shaq combo proves to be too much as they combine to score 53.
Dec 25th, 2005: Kobe has another great individual performance (37, 8 and 6) but the Lakers fall short again, 92-97. Turns out, the combo of Chris Mihm, Kwame Brown and Brian Cook aren’t effective against Shaq. Don’t blame Rudy. Who could have known?
Dec 25th, 2006: The Heat completely dismantle an under-matched Lakers team. Wade goes for 40. Three Lakers score in double figures: Kobe (16), Ronny Turiaf (13) and Luke Walton (10). Has there been a more pathetic list of top scorers for an NBA game? I seriously doubt it.
Then the Lakers got lucky for a couple of Christmases. In 2007, Kobe hangs 38 on the Suns. Shaq sits. In 2008, the Lakers beat the defending champion Celtics 92-83. Two years without Shaq in uniform on Christmas. Two wins for the Lakers.
Dec 25th, 2009: The Lakers are riding a five game winning streak into their Christmas match up against Shaq, Lebron and the Cavs. The frontcourt of the Lakers, boasting Gasol, Bynum and Odom are matched against an old, fat Shaq, Andersen Varejao and J.J. Hickson. The Lakers still get outscored in the paint 45-38 and lose by 15.
Next: The Ghost of Christmas Present
And that brings us to the Christmas 2010. The Miami Heat. Lebron. D-Wade. No Shaq. The average ticket price for Saturday’s game is $549, up from the usual Staples mean price of $144. Jack Nicholson didn’t make the Christmas game last year. Something tells me he’ll be there this year.
After wading through copious amounts of statistics, game film and conjecture, I believe I have unraveled the secret to the Lakers’ unsuccessful Christmas day outings. At first, I thought it had something to do with Kobe moving to Orange County. You know, the long Christmas morning commute up the five, being in a different county than your children on Christmas, etc. The Palisades were so much closer.
Then, I thought it might have something to do with Phil’s Buddhism. Were the Lakers feeling the Christmas wrath as unbelievers? But Buddhists are so peaceful, it just didn’t seem plausible. Dharma bums in an ideological battle? Please.
After throwing a few other possibilities around, I finally settled on the most obvious. The greatest common denominator, if you will. Looking back at all the stats and watching the games again, one thing stood out above all the rest. Points in the paint. In all of their Christmas Day losses (even before Shaq left) the Lakers are giving up an inordinate amount of buckets inside.
Next: Keys to the Victory on Christmas 2010
So this year, I’m looking for the Lakers to cap a decade of Christmases with a win. If the Heat are looking to take advantage of what we now know to be the Lakers’ Christmas Achilles’ heel, they’ll have to pound it inside. Only, there’s no one down there. Chris Bosh is a jump shooter. Haslem is hurt. Ilgauskas shoots set shots from 17-19 feet.
Even with the return of Mike Miller, a sorely missed piece for the Heat, this match up clearly favors the Lakers. They’re huge inside where the Heat are non-existent. They’re loaded with wing defenders to throw at Wade/Lebron. They have Kobe. On paper, it looks good… only problem is, in a streak dating back to 1999, paper hasn’t seemed to matter much on Christmas.
The last few days have been bleak and rainy in Los Angeles. Hopefully, we can keep the cold front coming, beat the Heat and set the tone for the next decade of Merry Christmases in LA.