Heat Check

LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh came out scorching during their Heat check in L.A. on Christmas Day. Miami pulled off a 96–80 statement win against the Lakers, filling a highlight reel with dunks, threes and suffocating team defense.

James became just the fourth player in history to notch a triple-double on Christmas Day, joining Oscar Robertson, John Havlicek and Billy Cunningham. LBJ's 31st career triple-double including 27 points on 8-of-14 shooting (including 5-of-6 from 3 and 6-of-6 from the free throw line), 11 rebounds and 10 assists to go along with four steals and only one turnover.

Playing on a sore knee, D-Wade added 18 points, six assists, five boards, one steal and one blocked shot, while often playing phenomenal one-on-one defense against Kobe Bryant, who played the role of facilitator on XMas, with 17 points on 6-of-16 shooting and seven assists in a losing effort.

The big surprise of the Big Three was Bosh, who dominated early on and finished with 24 points on 11-of-17 shooting and 13 rebounds in what could arguably be his first taste of the national spotlight. Bosh clearly outplayed his Laker counterpart Pau Gasol, who finished with 17 points and eight rebounds.

But the Larry O'Brien Trophy is not awarded in December. Both the Heat and Lakers still have plenty of work to do if there is to be the overhyped Heat vs. Three-peat Finals showdown many desire. But this Christmas, the Lakers had coal in their stocking and the Heat used it to start a fire that basketball fans will be talking about for quite a while.

Playoffs?!

The Chiefs, Jets, Ravens and Eagles joined the Patriots, Falcons, Steelers and Bears by punching their ticket to the playoffs in Week 16. Eight of the 12 postseason spots have been filled, with only the AFC South champ, NFC West champ, two NFC Wild Card berths and one remaining AFC Wild Card berth remaining.

Tuesday Night Football

The Sunday night showdown between Vikings and Eagles has been pushed back to Tuesday night following a Philadelphia snowstorm that had league officials more concerned over the 70,000-plus fans exiting Lincoln Financial Field around midnight than the actual game itself.

Now, the Vikings will deal with their second rescheduled game of the season — following a Week 15 contest with the Giants that was moved from Sunday to Monday and from Minnesota to Detroit — while the Eagles must worry about taking care of business against the Vikings on Dec. 28 before bouncing back to play the Cowboys on Jan. 2 in the Week 17 regular season finale.