Victor Wembanyama, Mikal Bridges Christmas scoring duel sends NBA fans into frenzy
12/25/2024 04:26 PM
On Wednesday, the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs hit the floor at Madison Square Garden for a Christmas Day clash. The game marked the Christmas debut of superstar Victor Wembanyama, but ultimately it was the Knicks who ended up making the crucial plays down the stretch en route to a 117-114 victory.
The big story of this game was the duel between Wembanyama and Knicks guard Mikal Bridges. Wembanyama totaled 42 points, to go along with 18 rebounds and four assists, in his Christmas debut, while Bridges tallied 41 for New York, including several buckets late in crunch time to lift the Knicks to victory.
Needless to say, fans on X, formerly Twitter, were enthralled by the battle.
Some users compared the game to a famous duel between LeBron James and Stephen Curry on Christmas in 2016.
https://x.com/BOSFred7/status/1872002441757221056
One user shared a recent meme of Jalen Rose to capture their surprise at the duel.
https://x.com/kyriecenterig/status/1871996895247450428
Others compared the battle to a famous match between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
https://x.com/RobertoRojas97/status/1872000803264946375
This was the first time that two players had at least 40 points in the same Christmas Day game, per Tim Reynolds of the AP.
An epic battle
Mikal Bridges scored the first seven points of the game for the Knicks, while Wembanyama also had a hot start, pushing his total to 24 points by the time the teams hit the locker room for halftime.
Bridges got off to a bit of a rough start to his first season in a Knicks uniform, struggling from beyond the arc over the first month or so and causing some to question whether he was truly worth the plethora of first round picks that the Knicks gave up to acquire him.
However, Bridges has found his footing over the last month, culminating in the epic performance on Christmas, torching the Spurs with a barrage of midrange and three point jumpers to close the game out down the stretch.
Despite the frustrating loss, Spurs fans still have to be thrilled by what they’ve seen from Wembanyama, who looked like the clear cut best player on the court among several other star caliber players Wednesday. It was the latest step to what is a virtual guaranteed first All-Star berth for Wembanyama this season.
In any case, up next for the Knicks is a road game vs the Orlando Magic Friday evening, while the Spurs will next take on the Brooklyn Nets the same night.
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