We are truly fortunate as Knicks fans. The same way that Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys fans get to watch their teams on Thanksgiving every year, the Knicks are the closest thing that the NBA has to that for their biggest
showcase day, Christmas. Since their inaugural season in 1947, they’ve played on Christmas 58 times in 79 seasons.
Since 2009, the Knicks have played 14 games on Christmas, only being absent from the day in 2015, 2019, and 2020. Two of those days were following 17-win seasons, while the other was in the midst of one. It takes the Knicks being historically bad to leave them off Christmas for the last 16 years, and with the team firmly in a contention window, they’re a lock to be playing at noon in MSG (all but one Christmas game since 2000 has been there) for the foreseeable future.
Since the team’s revival in 2021, there have been some themes to each of their games.
In 2021, it was the revenge game after the five-game defeat in the 2021 First Round to the Hawks. It was ultimately a rough season for the Knicks, but that day saw Kemba Walker record the first Christmas triple-double in franchise history and Obi Toppin deliver an Eastbay to cap it off (with Tyler Hall and Matt Mooney on the court!)
In 2022, we saw the Georges Niang game, where he smacked four threes in the fourth quarter for the Sixers to pull away. He then blatantly lied after the game, pretending that drop coverage doesn’t exist in the NBA.
2023 is the closest we have to no theme, as it was a relatively casual win over the Bucks. That said, it hits deeper knowing this was the last time Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett played in MSG as Knicks, concluding one era of Knicks basketball and vaulting them into another.
In 2024, we saw Mikal Bridges have his signature game as a Knick, dropping 40 and outdueling Victor Wembanyama in a back-and-forth showdown.
This year, it wasn’t clear what narrative we’d have. Of course, we had Jordan Clarkson’s season-high, Jalen Brunson’s late takeover, Mitchell Robinson’s renewed dominance of the Cavs, and an iconic comeback for the ages. But what this game will be known for is the night that Tyler Kolek stole Christmas.
The game started about as badly as humanly possible. The Brunson-Bridges-Hart-Anunoby-Towns lineup started this season extremely well, but we’re starting to see why the priority entering this season was a change. Since December 9, this lineup has been getting obliterated to a minus-16 net rating in 72 minutes. While maintaining an elite offense, they’re getting destroyed on defense (134.9 DRtg).
That lineup was part of the reason that Cleveland was up 18-3 at one point. Mike Brown, already facing a massive deficit, started throwing out lineups. He threw in Mo Diawara (who had five quick points!), Jordan Clarkson, and Mitchell Robinson gradually. He even gave a spurt to Ariel Hukporti due to Towns and Robinson being in foul trouble.
Ultimately, the Cavs led 38-23 at the end of the first quarter. While NBA games can take many twists and turns, it’s hard for teams to overcome such an early deficit. In seasons past, taking out Jalen Brunson was a death sentence, especially when losing. But Jordan Clarkson and the latest entrant into the “White Boy of the Year” competition decided to flip the script.
With Brunson on the bench to start the second, Clarkson splashed two threes to immediately force a Kenny Atkinson timeout. After a three from Thomas Bryant, the Knicks proceeded to score 18 consecutive points, outscoring the Cavs 24-3 in the first six minutes of the quarter.
Kolek had seven assists in seven minutes, nearly matching his effort from the near-triple-double he had on Tuesday. When Brunson re-entered at the 5:49 mark, he played alongside Kolek initially, but the Cavs played better upon re-entry, closing the deficit to two at halftime.
The start of the third quarter went… about the same as the start of the first. The Cavs went up five behind an improved defensive effort, but the Knicks battled back to tie it at 71. It was at that point that the Cavs began to completely dominate.
A 15-2 run, mostly spearheaded by Jaylon Tyson, vaulted Cleveland into the lead, one that would stand at 12 after three quarters. A dreadful defensive quarter bled into the start of the fourth, with a quartet of Donovan Mitchell free throws pushing the lead to 17 at 103-86.
With a hair over 10 minutes left, Clarkson hit a floater. It wasn’t this dominant avalanche of a run that we’ve seen from both teams earlier in the game, but the Knicks consistently chipped away. A Kolek three here, a Hart layup there, some good defense everywhere.
Speaking of Hart, he was tripped by Dean Wade on one of his patented downhill drives and twisted his ankle. He departed with about 7:30 left and never returned with the Knicks down 12. He was a minus-19 in this game, and lineups struggled, for whatever reason, with him on the court.
At this point, the Knicks were playing good enough defense to get back into it, but kept missing the momentum shots. The good thing about basketball, though, is that you can always get extra possessions. Enter Mitchell Robinson:
It brings you back to 2023. Jarrett Allen and a limited Evan Mobley were helpless. Mitch gobbled up board after board and made sure to spray to an open shooter, something he has been elite at this season. As the team crept closer, the Cavs suddenly found themselves in an awkward spot of needing to properly defend the perimeter, but also needing to put multiple bodies on Robinson to grab the board.
Brunson re-entered after, at one point, being a disgusting minus-31, but as usual, the captain played his best in the clutch. He scored 13 in the fourth quarter, making his free throws and nailing two gigantic threes. Despite a great game overall from Spida on the other side, you can’t help but wonder if it’s getting to his head how often Brunson outdoes him on national television.
It took a while, but the Knicks eventually tied it. Cleveland threatened to retake control of the game several times by generating turnovers, but were stunted by, amazingly, the elbow of Tyler Kolek.
All in all, it led to a 27-10 run in under seven minutes, powered by unbelievable hustle on both ends, before the team ultimately pulled it out despite Spida doing his best to make things interesting.
It’s games like these that really have you wondering after the game. Once again, the team that entered 2025-26 as the favorites in the Eastern Conference laid an egg at Madison Square Garden and got blitzed when the game mattered most. The Knicks improved to a league-best 15-2 at home. Clarkson is once again on another heater, while Mitch is back to being nationally revered as the best at what he does.
But what about Kolek? At this point, he’s produced good games against the Spurs, Wolves, and Cavs, three teams that are contenders to go deep in the playoffs. This isn’t stat-padding against the hapless Wizards and Nets anymore. With each passing game, it genuinely looks like the Knicks have something. It wasn’t long ago that we all considered the trade-up for him in 2024 as useless! Other fanbases are clamoring about him!!!
If they do truly have a rotation player in Kolek, it’s huge for roster building. He’s under control through 2027-28 due to a club option in his abnormally large second-round contract. The Knicks, when healthy, could boast a bench that has Kolek, Clarkson, Deuce McBride, and Landry Shamet all making around the league minimum. Oh yeah, they’d also include the best offensive rebounder in the sport.
All told, it was a Merry Knicksmas. And the joy wasn’t even contained to the fans themselves. Bridges bought the whole team a Rolex. Imagine being one of the two-way guys, getting an extra $250,000 from the NBA Cup, and being gifted a Rolex.
Oh yeah, KAT also got engaged to Jordyn Woods. Congrats to the Big Bodega!
