I like what Yahoo's Kelly Dwyer wrote about this:
It’s unfortunate that the NBA’s Christmas showcase featured a terrible game marred by a fight instigated by a member of one of the league’s worst teams, but this is what happens when you slavishly commit to running New York Knicks games by habit.
I thought Christmas games were supposed to feature, you know, good teams. While probably no one envisioned the Knicks being
this bad, I don't think anyone expected them to be particularly good this season, either.
And while I'm on this subject, how the heck did the Lakers end up with a Christmas Day game? Going into the season, everyone knew they were going to be a bad team. I'm sure it was a case of "L.A. and New York are the two biggest markets so we have to show their teams." Um, no. No you don't. Why not Toronto instead of the Knicks (especially since the NBA is really trying to score with the international demographic)? And why not the Rockets or Mavs or even Blazers instead of the Lakers?