Ranking the 5 best Miami Heat Christmas Day performances

The Miami Heat are set to play their 14th Christmas Day game on Monday night against the Philadelphia 76ers at the Kaseya Center.

Overall, Miami has an impressive record of 11-2 on Christmas, with their last loss taking place in 2007 against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

A big part of their success has been due to monster performances from their stars. Let's take a look at the top Heat performances on Christmas Day.

5. Bosh comes out victorious in duel vs Anthony Davis

In a low-scoring overtime thriller, Chris Bosh led the Miami Heat to a 94-88 victory against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Bosh had his hands full with Anthony Davis, who in his fourth season was already a two-way phenom and one of the best players at his position.

Both Bosh and Davis put on a clinic, hitting mid-range jumpers and opertating at a high level in the pick and pop game. For the game, Davis finished with 29 points and 15 rebounds. Bosh also had a double-double with 30 points and 10 rebounds.

But Bosh was able to close the deal for Miami, hitting a tough driving layup over Ryan Anderson along with converting an and-1 layup to put the Heat up 89-92 with 40 seconds left.

In what sadly ended up being one of Bosh's final games on the national stage due to blood clots, it was great to see Bosh showcase his skillset that many bigs have today with being able to shoot, faceup and put the ball on the floor when needed.

Bosh is without a doubt one of the greatest players in Heat history, and his performance against the Pelicans showed why he was one of the best players at the Power Forward spot during his playing time.

4. Wade shines in LeBron's return to Miami

There have been many classic LeBron James and Dwyane Wade duels, but this Christmas day showdown had much more emotion as James made his first return to Miami since leaving for Cleveland in 2014.

While the spotlight was on James, it was Wade who shined the most, finishing with 31 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists as the Heat defeated the Cavaliers 101-91.

Wade was in attack mode from start to finish, as 28 shot attempts was the most Wade took for the 2014-2015 season.

Wade displayed his full bag of tricks, scoring from all areas on the floor highlighted by a putback dunk on now current Heat player Kevin Love.

Before joining the Heat, James and the Cavaliers won five straight over Wade and Miami. But with a vintage performance from father prime, Wade made sure that the Heat were on the winning side against the Cavs.

3. LeBron's triple double leads Heat over Lakers

In the first Christmas game of the Big Three era, the Miami Heat traveled to Los Angeles to face the back-to-back defending champion Los Angeles Lakers led by the late great Kobe Bryant.

After a 9-8 start to the season, the Heat went on a tear, winning 13 of their next 14 games. Miami was clicking on all cylinders, and it was now time to make a statement against a team that had their eyes set on a three-peat. And with a dominant showing by LeBron James, their mission was accomplished, dismantaling the Lakers 96-80.

James led the charge witha triple-double, recording 27 points 11 rebounds, 10 assists and only one turnover. James was also on fire from three, hitting 5 of 6 from 3-point range.

Not only did James record the first and only triple-double by a Heat player on Christmas Day, James is also one of nine players in NBA history to record a triple-double on Christmas. 

James was at the height of his prime during his four year run in Miami, and his Christmas day triple-double was one of many special performances Heat fans were grateful to see.

2. LeBron James dominates Dallas in revenge game

Due to the NBA lockout, the Miami Heat opened their season on Christmas Day against the team that humiliated them in the 2011 NBA Finals: The Dallas Mavericks. After a six month offseason, the Miami Heat were welcomed with seeing Dallas raise their championship banner.

But Miami made it known that they are a much improved team, as they dismantled the Mavericks 105-94, leading by as much as 35 points.

The Heat's impressive outing was highlighted by LeBron James, who finished the game with 37 points on 11-19 shooting.

Unlike the NBA Finals where James struggled mightly, James had his way with Dallas, as he operated off the ball and in the mid range area.

And while Dallas did not bring back the same roster as last season to throw the same looks at James, James was able to get to his spots and was decisive with his decisions.

It's widely known that Dwyane Wade passed the mantle to James to be the number one option on the Heat, and opening day showed that James was ready to take on that responsibilty and show that he was indeed the best player on the planet.

1. Dwyane Wade out-duels the Mamba

To top the list, it's only right to end with the all-time co-leader in Christmas victories and the greatest player in Heat history: Dwyane Wade.

In this 2006 Christmas Day showdown, Wade and Kobe Bryant, the two best at their position, squared off in Miami.

Overall, Wade has 11 wins against Bryant. And out of those wins, this game win has to be near the top of the list of Wade's most impressive victories versus Bryant, with Miami defeating the Lakers 101-85.

In a game with no Shaquille O'Neal, Wade put together a virtuoso, recording Christmas career bests with 40 points and 11 assists along with four steals and four blocks.

Wade made sure the fans got their money's worth, throwing multiple behind the back passes along with blocking shots that were sent to the fifth row.

In a postgame press conference in 2016, Bryant admitted that Wade was the hardest player he had to guard in a screen and roll.

Wade had the nickname Flash for a reason, and during this time, Flash was at the height of his powers, and was a handful for everyone to deal with.

Both Wade and Bryant have had career-defining moments against each other, but Wade was able to get the best of Bryant in this matchup and put together his best Christmas Day performance.