FloaterDaily Brief
Thursday, December 25, 1997Regular season · 2 games
← Dec 23CalendarDec 26 →

2 games, none went to overtime. Biggest comeback: Bulls trailed Heat by 7 after the first quarter and won 90–80.

Final · Box score
Heat80
Bulls90
Q1 Bulls -7; Q2 Bulls +6; Q3 Bulls +5; Q4 Bulls +10
Final · Box score
Rockets103
Jazz107
Q1 Jazz -5; Q2 Jazz -1; Q3 Jazz +5; Q4 Jazz +4
On this day · 1996–97Dec 25, 1996: 2 games. Top scorer: Scottie Pippen (Bulls-Pistons), 27 points.
Dec 25 in other seasons2025202420232022202120202019201820172016201520142013201220112010200920082007200620052004200320022001200019991995
The lead · Heat-Bulls

Chicago makes it six straight

Michael Jordan goes for 24 points

Game flow · Bulls margin at each break
-20-100+10+20TipEnd Q1HalfEnd Q3Final0-7+6+5+10Bulls AHEAD ↑Heat AHEAD ↓
By quarter
Q1Q2Q3Q4T
Heat2115281680
Bulls1428272190
Who led
Michael JordanPoints, last 10 games: 13, 29, 25, 28, 11, 31, 36, 24, 27, 24Bulls24 PTS · 11 REB · 4 AST
Toni KukocPoints, last 10 games: 19, 20, 24, 14, 15, 23, 12, 14, 9, 19Bulls19 PTS · 6 REB · 5 AST
Jamal MashburnPoints, last 10 games: 18, 13, 13, 18, 11, 7, 5, 8, 14, 20Heat20 PTS · 4 REB · 2 AST
Tim HardawayPoints, last 10 games: 18, 23, 10, 28, 21, 21, 0, 22, 18, 18Heat18 PTS · 5 REB · 11 AST
Second story · Rockets-Jazz

Houston's skid reaches three

Utah won 107–103; the Rockets fall to 14–10. John Stockton led Utah with 24 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists.

Streak strip · Rockets
Wvs Hawks94–87W@ Mavs108–106Wvs Spurs108–78L@ Lakers102–119L@ Grizzlies105–110Wvs Grizzlies118–91Wvs Kings116–98L@ Spurs87–100Lvs Lakers83–94L@ Jazz103–107
The night in charts
Rockets-Jazz combined for 210, 40 more than any other game
Points by game
Rockets-JazzRockets 103, Jazz 107
210
Heat-BullsHeat 80, Bulls 90
170
Jazz won the closest game by 4
Closest finishes
Rockets-JazzRockets 103, Jazz 107
+4 Jazz
Heat-BullsHeat 80, Bulls 90
+10 Bulls
Bulls rallied from 7 down, the night's biggest comeback
Biggest comebacks, at quarter breaks
Heat-BullsBulls won · Heat 80, Bulls 90
7 pts
Rockets-JazzJazz won · Rockets 103, Jazz 107
5 pts
Willis shot 10-of-15 for the night's hottest hand
Hottest shooting · min 10 FGA
WillisRockets · 25 PTS, 8 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL
67% (10-15)
MaloneJazz · 20 PTS, 10 REB, 6 AST, 2 STL
67% (10-15)
StocktonJazz · 24 PTS, 3 AST, 2 REB, 1 STL
63% (10-16)
MashburnHeat · 20 PTS, 4 REB, 3 STL, 2 AST
62% (8-13)
ZoHeat · 16 PTS, 3 REB, 1 BLK
54% (7-13)
Final · Rockets-Jazz
Rockets 103Jazz 107
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Rockets25253023103
Jazz20293622107
The story
Karl Malone had 20 points and 10 rebounds as Utah beat Houston 107-103

Clyde Drexler led Houston with 15 PTS, 5 AST, 2 REB 20 PTS, 10 REB, 6 AST · 10-15 FG

The swing

Down 1 after the second, the Jazz took the third 36-30.

Jazz lead by quarter
200 −5−1+5+4 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Fantasy angle

Jeff Hornacek led the game in fantasy with 44.1 FPTS (20 PTS, 9 AST, 3 REB)

Final · Heat-Bulls
Heat 80Bulls 90
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Heat2115281680
Bulls1428272190
The story
Toni Kukoc's 19 points carried Chicago past Miami, 90-80

For Miami, Jamal Mashburn had 20 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST 19 PTS, 6 REB, 5 AST · 6-18 FG, 1-4 3PT

The swing

The Bulls trailed by 7 going into the second, then won it 28-15.

Bulls lead by quarter
200 −7+6+5+10 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Fantasy angle
Heating up
+5.2points, last 5 vs season avg
Points per game
9.2Season avg14.4Last 5

14.4 points a game over his last five games, against 9.2 in 8 earlier games. Today: 24 points in 27 minutes.

Losing minutes
−9.7minutes, last 3 vs season avg
Minutes per game
31.8Season avg22.1Last 3

22.1 minutes a game over his last three games, against 31.8 in 25 earlier games. Today: 11 points in 25 minutes.

Stepped-up role
+9.1minutes, today vs season avg
Minutes per game
31.0Season avg40.1Today

40 minutes today, against 31.0 a game in 26 earlier games. Line: 19 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists.

Top performances

Kevin Willis leads the day with 25

Kevin WillisPoints, last 10 games: 31, 17, 16, 15, 28, 23, 28, 18, 12, 25Rockets-Jazz · L
17.8 PPG season to date · +7.5 vs his regular-season average before tonight
25 PTS · 8 REB · 1 AST
Michael JordanPoints, last 10 games: 13, 29, 25, 28, 11, 31, 36, 24, 27, 24Bulls-Heat · W
26.6 PPG season to date · −2.7 vs his regular-season average before tonight
24 PTS · 11 REB · 4 AST
John StocktonPoints, last 9 games: 10, 4, 5, 7, 14, 10, 11, 13, 24Jazz-Rockets · W
10.9 PPG season to date · +14.8 vs his regular-season average before tonight
Season high24 PTS · 2 REB · 3 AST
Karl MalonePoints, last 10 games: 24, 31, 34, 23, 26, 29, 30, 24, 27, 20Jazz-Rockets · W
25.6 PPG season to date · −5.8 vs his regular-season average before tonight
20 PTS · 10 REB · 6 AST
Jeff HornacekPoints, last 10 games: 18, 13, 12, 9, 8, 18, 5, 9, 15, 20Jazz-Rockets · W
14.6 PPG season to date · +5.7 vs his regular-season average before tonight
20 PTS · 3 REB · 9 AST
Jamal MashburnPoints, last 10 games: 18, 13, 13, 18, 11, 7, 5, 8, 14, 20Heat-Bulls · L
15.4 PPG season to date · +4.8 vs his regular-season average before tonight
20 PTS · 4 REB · 2 AST
Hot and cold

Last 10 games against the season so far

Hot
Joe SmithWarriors+4.1 21.0 last 10 · 16.9 season
Kobe BryantLakers+4.0 22.0 last 10 · 18.0 season
Corliss WilliamsonKings+3.8 19.4 last 10 · 15.6 season
Kevin WillisRockets+3.5 21.3 last 10 · 17.8 season
Steve NashSuns+3.0 13.0 last 10 · 10.0 season
Cold
Kenny AndersonBlazers−4.4 8.7 last 10 · 13.1 season
Nick Van ExelLakers−3.6 11.9 last 10 · 15.5 season
Eddie JonesLakers−3.5 14.6 last 10 · 18.1 season
A.C. GreenMavs−3.5 4.2 last 10 · 7.7 season
Lindsey HunterPistons−3.4 11.3 last 10 · 14.8 season