In all seriousness, was that it?

The National Basketball Association trotted out its finest on Christmas Day and night, the showcase for the league and its finest. All the top athletes for your hoop-viewing pleasure.

Let’s be honest. Long before Giannis and Joel Embiid collided, I was longing for the old Blue-Gray Football Game.

What a pathetic day for the NBA!

It opened with a Celtics win that was over before my tenderloin roast was anywhere near the oven.

I was still stuffing celery while Jaylen Brown was toying with the Raptors, and believe me, holding my way off from the remote and a snap to “It’s a Wonderful Life,” was more difficult than trying to keep Enes Kanter off the offensive glass.

What the heck has happened to the NBA? There was no life, no excitement, no personality and absolutely no drama.

Blowouts in the first two, followed Draymond Green and the Golden State JV team improving to 8-24 with a win over the Rockets.

I’ll bet that James Harden and Russell Westbrook are pretty good players when they aren’t consumed by visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads.

But on Christmas?

No thanks.

They didn’t want to be there. So I went to “Die Hard” at that point, high on the list of the world’s great Christmas movies.

LeBron and Anthony Davis hit prime time. And while the Lakers are relevant again, they remain the second-best team in the city of Angels.

Watching Doc Rivers’ Clippers dare Caldwell Pope and Rajon Rondo to shoot the rock, while sagging to the guys who can actually make shots, brought tears of joy to my eyes.

In the end, the inevitable happened. King James and A.D. were so tired in the fourth that all the old men could do was chuck up jumpers.

At least I felt engaged.

And that was it. The nightcap? The Pelicans won their ninth game of the year. Enough said.

Seriously, what an absolute waste of time.

It was like watching baseball in December.

Too slow. Too boring.

Too much.

0 for 38

It could go down as a mark the likes of DiMaggio’s 56-game hit streak and Joey Chestnut’s 72 hot dogs consumed.

Yes, Charlie McAvoy still does not have a goal, 38 games into the Boston Bruins’ season.

And this is a guy who plays serious power-play minutes.

By the way, while on the subject, big props to the SportsHub’s Joe Murray, who gave an on-air shout out Tuesday to the best nickname of my 30-plus years in sports, Charlie McAverage.

Hector Longo can be reached at 594-1253 or by email: hlongo@

nashuatelegraph.com

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