[New] C a d e n C e n t e r W hat we lear ned about each team that played on NBA Christmas Day

By Caden Henderson

For NBA fans, there’s more gifts than what is just under the tree every Christmas Each year the NBA runs a quintuple header on ABC of games featuring the brightest stars and best teams The holiday is often also a benchmark for how well teams are doing, so I’m here to review what we learned from the five matchups and 10 teams that played this Christmas Day

Warriors vs Grizzlies

Warriors: The Dubs picked up a much needed Christmas Day win without their superstar PG Stephen Curry In this game, we were more reaffirmed than educated when it came to the Warriors, specifically their young stud Jordan Poole We were reminded once again that he is an extremely streaky shooter that, when on his game, can hit any shot he takes no matter the difficulty However, not every aspect was a win, as we saw Klay Thompson continue to show his age and also reaffirm our thoughts by shooting an abysmal 8-25 from the field and 3-12 from three If the Warriors want to go back to back, they need to be healthy and need Poole and Thompson to be on the good side of streaky

Grizzlies: The Grizzlies main weakness showed on Christmas Day; their shooting Outside of Desmond Bane, the Grizz have no real consistent outside shooting threat getting key minutes Star PG Ja Morant prefers to get his 30 PPG a night at the rim, and the rest of the Grizzlies core featuring Jaren Jackson Jr and Dillion Brooks are more defensive specialists and play with the classic Memphis “Grit and Grind” mentality The Grizzlies future is bright but if they want to make the present better, they have to become better from beyond the arc

Bucks vs Celtics

Celtics: The Celtics reminded everyone that they are the defending Eastern Conference Champions with a dominant 21 point victory at home Star Forward Jayson Tatum gave Boston fans the Christmas present of a 40 point performance It’s clear Tatum wants that MVP, and he taught us this holiday season that he should be the front runner

Bucks: It’s hard to read to deep into this loss for the Bucks as they were without their second best player Khris Middleton However, even without Middleton, I’m sure Bucks fans wanted to see a better performance than 9-22 from 2 time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo Giannis being prone to being “walled up” on and struggling to score may still be a concern, but there’s no reason to even remotely panic if you’re the Bucks unless they start losing consistently when they’re healthy

Lakers vs Mavs

Mavs: The Mavs unveiled their statue of legend Dirk Nowitzki and secured a win on Christmas A 51 point 3rd quarter propelled them to the win, but the story in the first half is one to take note of The Lakers forced the ball out of Luka Doncic’s hand at every chance they got and, until the second half, no one stepped up The Mavericks will not see any significant success until Luka gets help, and that showed for awhile this game and will continue to show throughout the year barring

Major Changes

Lakers: The Lakers season is crumbling once again before the All Star break Anthony Davis is expected to miss a good amount of time with a foot injury, Russell Westbrook continues to be a negative, and outside of Austin Reaves and Lonnie Walker, no one can be relied on to help win them games night in and night out The message to the Lakers front office was proved needed once again, and that message is to make trades and get LeBron James help while he is still playing at a high level

76ers vs Knicks

76ers: You won’t ever see me buying into the 76ers, even despite this win against the Knicks in their rivalry matchup Yes, Joel Embiid is good and an MVP candidate, but we already knew that However, James Harden is still very inconsistent The basketball world also was reminded why Philadelphia flops every year in the playoffs, as Tobias Harris shot 0-5 from 3 The 6ers were able to get enough from Georges Niang’s outside shooting to win this game, but we know he is also not reliable come playoff time, and the 76ers should not be trusted to win big games come playoff time

Knicks: The Knicks are still and seemingly always will be one piece away from being one piece away, and we learned that this Christmas On a night where Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle put them in a position to win, RJ Barrett didn’t show up The Knicks seem like a team bound for a 500 record and an early playoff exit unless someone becomes the “one piece”

Nuggets vs Suns:

Suns: Devin Booker exited this game early and at the time I’m writing this we don’t know the full extent of the injury but given he just got back, I can’t imagine this’ll end well However, I’m going to put that aside to highlight a player that I’ve seen shine at times but showed up again tonight when called on, Landry Shamet Shamet has made his money hitting 3’s and when he gets hot he is a game changer He poured in over 30 points vs the Nuggets coming off a career night just a few nights before If Shamet can continue to light it up even when Booker returns, and Chris Paul can not lose the Suns games with his poor shooting, they have a shot to make another playoff run

Nuggets: I know I just said Jayson Tatum taught us he should be the MVP frontrunner but boy Nikola Jokic is simply special There simply isn’t a guy giving you a 41 point, 15 rebound, 15 assist triple double like Jokic did for Nuggets fans this Christmas He’s 7’0 with guard skills, tier 1 passing vision, and he can stretch the floor The Joker may be on his way to reminding us that 3 MVP’s in a row is very possible

NBA Christmas Day didn’t disappoint and gave us some great performances and matchups Now, the teams will look ahead to the remaining 50 or so games left on their regular season schedule in chase of the greatest present of all, the Larry O’Brien trophy

Crafton Hills College Alumna Appointed SBCCD Board Chair

Bernardino Mountains

The San Bernardino Community College District has announced the appointments of Dr Stephanie Houston as chair of the board of trustees, Dr Anne Viricel as vice chair, and Joseph R Williams as clerk The board provides leadership and counsel to Chancellor Diana Z Rodriguez to advance the public mission of SBCCD, which includes Crafton Hills College, San Bernardino Valley College, KVCR TV/FM, and a workforce training facility

“I started at Crafton Hills College as a 27-year-old mother of four young children, attending college for the first time,” said Houston, who is now Assistant Superintendent of Innovation and Engagement for the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools “To work for our local students and to give back to the college district that gave me my start is a profound honor ”

Houston has been a professional K-12 educator for over 28 years and was elected to the SBCCD Board of Trustees in 2018 She represents Area 6, including Yucaipa, Big Bear Lake, Calimesa, and the San

Houston attended Crafton Hills College and transferred to California State University San Bernardino to earn a liberal studies/bilingual-cross cultural bachelor ’s degree In addition to a professional teaching and administrative services credential, Houston has a master ’s degree in educational administration from the University of Redlands and earned a doctor of education degree in transformational leadership from Brandman University

Dr Anne Viricel, Vice Chair, has served on the SBCCD board since 2015, representing Area 7, including Highland, San Bernardino, and the San Bernardino Mountains

She is a member of the SBCCD Board Legislative Committee

Viricel is the executive director of the San Bernardino Symphony and a professor at the University of Redlands School of Business

She earned a doctor of public administration degree from the University of La Verne

Joseph R Williams, Board

Clerk, has served on the SBCCD board since 2013, representing Area 2, including Rialto, San Bernardino, and the unincorporated community of Muscoy

He is a governor ’s appointee to the California Community Colleges Board of Governors and an SBCCD Board Finance Committee member

Williams is an alumnus of Crafton Hills College and San Bernardino Valley College and has a master ’s degree in social impact from Claremont Lincoln University

He works at the Rialto Unified School District as Community Agent of Strategic Partnerships

During the board’s December meeting, Trustee Frank Reyes was re-appointed chair of the Board Legislative Committee, and Trustee Nathan Gonzales was appointed chair of the Board Finance Committee The board is rounded out by immediate-past Board Chair Gloria Macias Harrison, Trustee John Longville, Student Trustees Robert Alexander of Crafton Hills College, and Paul Del Rosario of San Bernardino Valley College