The novelty of Christmas Day, the one day only uniforms and shoes has worn off and business is back to normal in the NBA.
WALL FINED, ACY SUSPENDED FOR CHRISTMAS DAY SCUFFLE
Washington Wizards’ John Wall has been fined $15,000 and New York Knicks’ Quincy Acy has been suspended one game without pay by the NBA for their roles in a Christmas Day altercation.
Acy threw a forearm to Wall’s head in the fourth quarter of Washington’s 102-91 victory. Wall then shoved Acy to escalate the incident.
SMITH HITS 21 IN ROCKETS DEBUT
New Houston Rockets signing Josh Smith scored a team-high 21 points and grabbed four vital offensive rebounds in his side’s 117-111 overtime win over Memphis Grizzlies.
Via AP:
Smith, who signed earlier in the day, scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds Friday night as the Rockets beat Memphis 117-111 in overtime.
“We knew what he brought to the table,” said James Harden, who led the Rockets with 32 points and 10 assists. “All he has to do is go out there and play his game.”
The Rockets held a 111-109 lead with 1:18 left in overtime when Harden missed a 17-footer. Smith grabbed the offensive rebound, leading to a miss by Trevor Ariza, only to have Smith corral another offensive rebound.
Smith was fouled and converted both free throws, padding the Rockets’ lead.
“When you’re a professional, and you’ve played a lot of years, it’s not that hard,” Smith said of joining a new team, “especially since you know a lot of the guys in the locker room. They helped me out when I was kind of lost our there.”
KOBE TRASH TALKS A FAN
Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant knows how to shut up trash-talking fans even when he’s not playing. During Friday’s game in Dallas, Bryant calmly turned around and told the heckler, seated close to the Lakers bench to count his rings.
