NBA Wrap: ‘Kawhi Leonard’s Face Was Reorganized’; Warriors in trouble; LeBron’s airball excuse

Los Angeles Clippers star Kawhi Leonard must have wondered what he did wrong when all he got for Christmas was an elbow to the face.

Traditional Christmas matchups yielded some uneven results, but the Clippers did enough to clinch a 121-108 victory over the Denver Nuggets.

The Nuggets had pulled the Clippers out of the playoffs last season, but the most worrying thing was Leonard’s injury in the fourth quarter.

Regarded as one of the best players in the world after leading the Toronto Raptors to the NBA title in 2018/19, Leonard signed a four-year, $ A142m contract with the team, partnering with Paul George.

But it was constantly criticized in 2019/20 after popularizing the term “load management” by missing games in an attempt to extend its run.

He had a legitimate reason to sit on the bench courtesy of his new teammate Serge Ibaka as he was bleeding profusely from his mouth after accidentally hitting an accidental brutal elbow.

As he tried to look for a rebound, Leonard turned with Ibaka coming in and swinging his star teammate.

Leonard dropped to the ground.

He was quickly attended to with a pool of blood next to him on the ground as he had blood all over his arm.

They helped him up off the ground and it was later revealed that he needed eight stitches in his mouth.

After the game, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said, “He got up and walked off the court, so he’s going to be fine.”

His superstar teammate Paul George was stunned at the moment.

“Really worried,” George said. “I was thinking about the worst. I didn’t know if he had a concussion or how hard the blow (was) or what really happened, because I didn’t see him. I just saw him lying on the ground. It was first and foremost to make sure that was okay. “

Clippers teammate Nicolas Batam also admitted it was a terrifying scene.

“You don’t want a player, any player, to fall like this with blood all over the floor and everywhere,” Batum said. “I think it’s good. I just saw him in the locker room; he was fine, and that was a little scary at the time.”

Leonard scored 21 points for the game with George scoring 23, while Nikola Jokic led the way for the Nuggets with 24 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds.

WARRIORS COP 60 YEARS HIDDEN

On a Christmas day filled with mixed results, the Golden State Warriors took it to the next level.

The Warriors were never on the hunt against Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Milwaukee Bucks.

But Giannis took a backseat when Khris Middleton scored 31 points in a monster game that everyone on the list was able to contribute.

It was a 138-99 beating of the Warriors, the second most uneven beating in the NBA’s Christmas game, second only to the Syracuse Nationals’ 162-100 victory over the New York Knicks in 1960. So it could have been worst.

The Bucks knocked the Warriors off the court in the second half, winning 72-43.

“We just wanted to put on a show,” Middleton said.

It gives the Warriors a 0-2 start to the season and they are the first team since the 1989-90 Warriors to lose their first two games by at least 25 points.

At -65, the Warriors also have the second-worst point differential in two games, second only to the 1987-88 Clippers, who had -71 and claimed the worst record in the NBA that season.

Oh.

LEBRON’S Hilarious REASON FOR AIRBALL

For proof that superstars can still make mistakes, look no further: LeBron James vs. the Mavericks.

The Lakers were leading 91-79 in the third quarter when the King was fouled and sent to the free throw line.

In a moment when the commentators all but missed, LeBron threw an air ball in a surprising miss.

However, he didn’t escape reporters after the game and LeBron, with a big smile on his face, said he needed to change the way he drinks wine in the future to prevent the mistake from happening again.

“What I told you the other night when I drink the wine goes right to the left side of my body. Tonight I took free throws with my right hand, so I had a bad side effect. So I’ll see if I can drink some. Wine if I can shoot it to the right side of my body maybe it will help my free throws and give me a little more punch where it hits absolutely nothing so we’ll see, we’ll see what happens. Maybe I have to drink face down tonight, maybe Once in the vampire style, we’ll see. “

CHRISTMAS DAY SCORES

Miami Heat 111-98 New Orleans Pelicans

Milwaukee Bucks 138-99 Golden State Warriors

Boston Celtics 95-123 Brooklyn Nets

LA Lakers 138-115 Dallas Mavericks

Denver Nuggets 108-121 LA Clippers