Ranking The Miami Heat’s All-Time Christmas Day Wins
By Will Salinas
Ranking Miami Heat’s Christmas Wins: More ‘Shaq vs. Kobe’ & LeBron’s Return
Ok, this is the final Heat and Lakers match-up. What makes this one so special and different than the other 55 meetings between Los Angeles and Miami on Christmas Day though?
3. 2004- Los Angeles Lakers at Miami Heat
Well, it’s Kobe vs Shaq Part One. The first meeting between the two giants since the split and what better way to go at each other’s throat than on Christmas Day?
Wade & Shaq vs Kobe & Odom was a sight to see. The game was so intense and competitive that it went to overtime, coming down to a Kobe Bryant three-pointer for the win.
Fortunately, he missed. However, he led the team in scoring, getting himself 42 points, while Lamar Odom came up with 24.
The Heat had more of a team scoring effort, but Wade and Shaq still led the way. The Miami Heat’s greatest player of all time would score 29, while Shaq scored 24 and grabbed down 11 boards.
Shaq started off the game blocking Kobe, but the aggressiveness on defense came back to bite him as he fouled out. It was then up to Wade to bring it home, which he did.
They managed to contain Bryant and left LA with a win. After the game, we received a classic quote from Shaq
“When you’ve got a Corvette that runs into a brick wall, you know what’s going to happen.” That quote was so awesome and will always be imprinted on the minds of Heat fans everywhere.
The Heat wore their classic red baggy jerseys that night and for their first Christmas game since they played the Bulls in 1997.
Must Read. 15 Greatest Dwyane Wade moments of all time. light
2. 2014- Cleveland Cavaliers at Miami Heat
This game and the number one spot are both interchangeable, it just depends on what you value most from these Christmas Day games. I think the Cavaliers vs Heat has to be up there, solely off the fun everyone had watching it.
LeBron is back in town with his new crew and while Heat Nation was grateful for everything he gave us, it was understandable to be mad that he left.
With that, it was time for revenge. Dwyane made sure of it too.
Wade scored 24 of his 31 points in the first half. While he did go 2-12 in the second half, it didn’t matter because Luol Deng had his back, scoring 25 on 11-16 shooting and harassing James all night long.
There were so many memorable moments from this game. Wade took it to James as he was stripping him, attacking him on offense, and then delivered the famous put-back dunk over Kevin Love.
The old man still had it! For most of the game, the Heat led a good bit but fell apart in the third quarter, before managing to close it out on an 11-4 run late in the game.
Miami won, 101-91, holding off a 30 point performance from LeBron and 25 point game from Kyrie Irving. It was just a lot of fun seeing LeBron’s tribute video and him cracking up with Wade.
It was a very entertaining game from start to finish. Both superstars gave it everything they had.
The jerseys worn were very questionable, with the Cavaliers having those mustard-colored jerseys. Also, the random nameplate on the back was, overall, a very big turn-off.