The NBA had an abnormally busy schedule on Christmas Day this season, with a number of marquee matchups among the league's five games.

There was no action on Christmas Eve, which means a majority of players that believe in Santa Claus probably celebrated the holiday on Dec. 24.

The action was at times thrilling, but when delving deeper into the numbers, the performances -- by teams and individual stars ?- weren't up to par with what we have come to expect during the first two months of the 2008-09 season.

Eight of the ten teams on display Dec. 25 shot lower than their season average while only the Mavericks scored more points than we've come to expect. Dallas is averaging 100 points per game this season, and they narrowly surpassed that mark with 102 against the Blazers on Christmas night.

Both the Mavericks and Blazers surpassed their season shooting percentages while the other four games were full of poor shooting. The Hornets (33.3% down from 45.3%), Cavaliers (41.9% down from 47.7%), and the Magic (40.5% down from 45.8%) were the most glaring offenders.

Thanks to that poor shooting percentage, New Orleans scored just 68 points against Orlando, more than 27 points below their 2008-09 mark of 95.1. In total, NBA teams scored an average of 12.2 fewer points than they have averaged so far this season.

Eight teams also struggled from the foul line, while seven of the ten clubs committed fewer fouls than their season average. Could it be that the NBA's brightest stars were feeling some yuletide joy, and that they showered opponents with greetings of 'Merry Christmas' and 'Happy New Year' instead of trash talk and 'Yo Mama' jokes?

Only the Spurs, Celtics and Mavericks were whistled for an abnormally large number of fouls on Christmas, with the defending-champions committing a league-high 25 on Dec. 25. I suppose that makes Travis Outlaw's claim that Boston likes to hit, but doesn't like to be pushed themselves, somewhat valid.

In addition to studying the statistics of all the teams that took the court this Christmas, I took a look at the numbers of 34 players ?- namely All-Star caliber players, who were likely given significant, consistent minutes over the course of the season.

As expected, statistics were down across the board for a good number of the individual ballers I analyzed. The following table shows the percentage of players that turned in below-average numbers in numerous categories.

Statistic, % of Players With Below-Average Numbers

FG%: 58.8% (20 of 34)

FT% 52.9% (18 of 34)

3PT%: 29.4% (10 of 34)

Pts: 58.8% (20 of 34)

Rbds: 61.7% (21 of 34)

Asts: 50% (17 of 34)

TOs: 44.2% (15 of 34)

Stls: 47.1% (16 of 34)

Blks: 58.8% (20 of 34)

The numbers don't lie, but some of the poor performances on Dec. 25 were more surprising than others. Orlando's Jameer Nelson faced off against New Orleans' Chris Paul, an MVP candidate last season. Nelson posted 14 points, 3 assists, and a victory while Paul managed 14 points, 4 assists, and a loss.

Cleveland was victorious, which could have been expected, but LeBron James scored just 18 points, nearly ten below his season average (27.8).

Rajon Rondo might have spent too much time playing with his new toys prior to Boston's huge showdown with Los Angeles as he turned in one of his worst all-around performances of the year. He dished 12 assists but had just 6 points on 27.2% shooting and nearly fouled out of the game.

Greg Oden, still a young man despite his grandfatherly looks, had extreme difficulty playing in his first Christmas game. Only his assist and steal totals (not his strong suits) were above average against the Mavericks. He contributed 4 points and 5 rebounds on 33.3% shooting while turning the ball over three times and failing to block a single shot.

Of course, there were a few players that excelled.

Tim Duncan posted 25 points and 14 rebounds for the Spurs, well above his mark of 20.7 points and 10.3 boards. Shaquille O'Neal was equally productive, tallying 23 points and 13 rebounds, far-and-away better than the 17.2 points and 8.9 boards he is averaging on the season.

Kevin Garnett was successful, as well. He poured in 22 points and 9 rebounds against the rival Lakers, a considerable jump in scoring and a tad better on the boards (16.7 points and 8.8 rebounds).

It's no surprise that the three players who saw the largest increases in production on Christmas Day are all veterans. Duncan, O'Neal, and Garnett are all first-ballot Hall of Famers and each owns at least one championship ring.

They have all also played on Dec. 25 multiple times, perhaps giving them an advantage when dealing with a 'Holiday Hangover'.

Andrew Perna is Deputy Editor of RealGM.com and co-host of RealGM?s Radio Show. Please feel free to contact him with comments or questions via e-mail: Andrew.Perna@RealGM.com