A jam-packed day of NBA action kicked off Christmas morning with the Philadelphia Sixers paying the New York Knicks a visit at Madison Square Garden. While neither team is dominating the league by any stretch, it was still an opportunity for America to see two of the league’s hottest rising stars go toe-to-toe.

Sure enough, Joel Embiid and Kristaps Porzingis have not disappointed so far. While the game is a close affair between these two Eastern Conference rivals, the dual big men have spent much of the day preventing the other team from scoring by holding their own block party.

Embiid currently has three on the day, including one that is sure to be a SportsCenter Top 10 highlight.

Meanwhile, Kristaps has four blocks so far as he continues to dominate the paint for New York.

And as was bound to happen, worlds collided in the third quarter when Porzingis did some serious “get the heck outta here” blockage on Embiid’s floater.

And here’s their meeting at regular speed.

While there’s certainly been a lot of rejection today, Embiid did take some time to show appreciation for the ghosts of free throw’s past, which was appreciated on Christmas.

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Editorial Strategy Director for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.