NBA Christmas Day 2011 Schedule: Bold Predictions for Dynamic Season Openers
The NBA will tip off with some scintillating performances by three of the game's stars on Christmas Day.
It's been a long layoff, but it will quickly seem like the NBA never left when these stars torch the net to kick-start the season in style.
Prediction: Ray Allen will score 32 points, including seven three-pointers.
The NBA's all-time leading three-point shooter will be on his game in the opener. Allen always keeps himself in impeccable shape. He will not have allowed the long layoff to add any extra pounds to his body, or rust to his gorgeous shooting stroke.
Allen's old legs will be fresh, and the Knicks' perimeter defense will be the victims.
This will be easy pickings for Allen. Mike D'Antoni teams always struggle on defense, and last year's Knicks squad was no different. Those struggles begin on the perimeter.
The Knicks were 25th in the league in opponents' three-point percentage at 37 percent. Ray Allen will get his outside shots falling, and then will pump-fake his way to easy drives to the basket.
Prediction: LeBron James will score 39 points. Of those 39, 18 will come in the fourth quarter.
The Heat are going to be hungry for revenge in this game. Conversely, it will be just the start to a long season for the content Mavericks.
No player is going to be more anxious for a slice of revenge pie than LeBron James. After a string of fourth-quarter disappearing acts in the finals, LeKing has had to endure an offseason with many people questioning his ability to perform in the clutch.
LeBron will be determined to be the man in the fourth quarter of this one to try and do his best to put tweets like this to rest.
Given the diminished intensity and pressure, LeBron will be find clear lanes to the basket and some easy inside points. This will get his confidence rolling to hit some jumpers and dominate in the fourth quarter.
Chicago Bulls at LA Lakers
Prediction: Kobe Bryant will go for 35 points.
Last season, Kobe Bryant's sore knee kept him out of practices and almost glued to the court. It resulted in his scoring average dropping off from the 29.2 points per game he posted the season before to 22.8.
This diminished output, combined with a second-round playoff exit for the Lakers has led to Bryant falling out of the conversation for the league's best player.
In the offseason, Bryant underwent a derivation of platelet-rich plasma therapy on his knee. Combine that with plenty of time off, and he will enter this season with legs that are fresher than they have been in years.
He will be eager to show NBA fans what he can accomplish with fresh legs and remind everyone why this tweet is still true.
Kobe will be playing a Bulls' defense that was second in the league in scoring last season, but he can rise above that defense for a game.
This is the exact kind of showcase Kobe loves. He has the reigning MVP, Derrick Rose, on the other side, and the national spotlight of a Christmas Day game. Kobe Bryant will force himself into the spotlight in the opener.
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