The Opening Tip

• The best young star is in Oklahoma City
• The number of 20-point scorers is overwhelming
• Our favorite Christmas Day matchups   

1. How bad a coach must Steve Nash’ve been?

Steve Nash, who is like if the white guy pursed lips hey, how are ya? greeting was a person, was fired as the Nets coach in November.

At that point, the Nets were 2-5 and 29th in the league in defense. Kevin Durant was mad again and Kyrie was gearing up for a bad tweet.

Then they brought in replacement-level coach Jacque Vaughn, and things got good again. 

• They're now 20-12 (2.5 games out of the one seed) but have won seven in a row. 
• Their defense is 13th, their offense is seventh, and their net-rating is eighth. 
• In general, they’re playing like a team with a top-five player and a great scorer. 

So we ask …. what the hell was Steve Nash up to for two-plus years? 

[READ: Nets' run up the standings comes without controversy or noise]

2. Bonus GIF: SGA 🌼

The breakout star of this season is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who’s sheer force of bucket-getting has stopped the tank in Oklahoma City, which is 14-18.

• SGA’s averaging 31.2 PPG(!) on 49.8 percent shooting with a 27 PER, which is nearly impossible for a guard. 
• Last week alone, he basically beat the Blazers twice by himself, including the game-winner above. 

3. Trivia time

Who’s the last rookie to make the All-Star team?

Answer at the bottom.

4. 20-plus-point scorers by year, 2012-2022

TLDR: Your eyes aren’t deceiving you. When people like Kelly Ourbe Jr. and Kyle Kuzma are dropping 20-plus PPG, you’re in a scoring boom.

PS: The 2012-13 season -- Spurs-Heat round 1; height of Russ-KD; Harden in Houston; Heat-Pacers round 1 -- is proof you don’t need a bunch of scoring to have an awesome NBA season.

5. The Christmas games, ranked

5. Lakers at Mavs, 2:30 PM ET: The Lakers won’t have AD (hurt) or maybe LeBron (hurt, old) and the Mavs have officially entered back half of LeBron’s first Cavs go-around territory. 

4. Grizzlies at Warriors, 8:30 PM ET: Ja is Ja, but the Warriors without Steph are out here letting up 91 points in one half.

3. 76ers at Knicks, 12 PM ET: The Knicks just had their eight-game W streak snapped, and James Harden and Joel Embiid are both healthy. 

2. Bucks at Celtics, 5 PM ET: This had blockbuster stamped on it until the Celtics sent New England into seasonal depression early with three straight home Ls to the Magic twice and the Pacers once.

1. Suns at Nuggets, 10:30 PM ET: The bitter irony of this great matchup is that we’ll all be drifting into sleep by then, but it’s a healthy Phoenix team against the two-time MVP who might be even better this year.

6.  Quick Hits

• The Suns are in the process of being sold for $4 billion, a new record.  
• PatBev keeps hitting people with the ‘too small’ celebration while down double digits. 
• Trae Young is reportedly entering ‘I might want out’ territory. 
• Robin Lopez trash-talking his brother is the good stuff. 
• Jarrett Allen poster on Giannis. 
• Update on Dwight Howard: Fighting with 7-foot-4 centers in Taiwan. 
• The Knicks have been docked a future second-rounder for tampering with Jalen Brunson. 
• Buddy Hield: Not a fan of Sacramento. 

7.  Reads

• How far can Heat Culture take the Heat? [The Ringer]
• MSG uses facial recognition to ban its owner’s enemies [NY Times]

Trivia answer: Blake Griffin