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Hoops du Jour

Wizards come back to defeat Celtics

BOSTON — Washington’s talented guards made themselves at home at Boston’s Christmas party.

Bradley Beal scored 25 points, John Wall had 21 points and 14 assists, and the Wizards beat Boston 111-103 on Monday in the Celtics’ first Christmas Day home game in franchise history.

“For us to get a win, that was big time,” Wall said. “Playing against a great team, one of the hottest teams in the league. They’ve been in a slump lately, but it’s a team that we know we might have to battle later on, and to get a win it was great.”

Otto Porter Jr. added 20 points and Kelly Oubre Jr. finished with 16, helping Washington take the first meeting between the teams since Boston’s Game 7 victory at home in the second round of the playoffs last spring.

“I felt a little nostalgic out there,” Oubre said. “It brought me back to the playoffs and all the good memories that we have in here. The fans chanting crazy stuff, it just brought me back to a place where you know it got me locked in man, like it was the playoffs, so it was a great atmosphere out there.”

Eastern Conference-leading Boston lost for the third time in four games. Kyrie Irving and Jayson Tatum each scored 20 points for the Celtics, and Terry Rozier had 16.

The Celtics are 11-8 since opening the season 16-2.

“It hasn’t been one of the best stretches for us, but we have a resilient group,” Irving said. “That right there is enough for us to go on and make progress in the right direction.”

Elswwhere:

Thunder 112, Rockets 107: Russell Westbrook had 31 points and 11 assists to help Oklahoma City Thunder stay hot with a win over Houston.

Paul George scored 24 points and Carmelo Anthony added 20 for the Thunder, who won their fifth straight game. Oklahoma City shot 54.4 percent from the field.

James Harden led the Rockets with 29 points, but he made just 7 of 18 field goals. The league’s leading scorer was coming off back-to-back 51-point games.

Trevor Ariza and Eric Gordon each scored 20 points and Clint Capela added 19 points and 10 rebounds for Houston, which lost its third straight.

Houston point guard Chris Paul sat out with a groin strain. The Rockets are 15-1 when he plays and 10-6 when he doesn’t.

Westbrook shot 4 for 14 in the first half but made his last two before the break to help the Thunder lead 58-57 at halftime. Harden had 11 points in the first half but made just 1 of 8 shots.

Westbrook broke away for a fast-break dunk to give the Thunder a 65-59 lead early in the third quarter. The Rockets rallied, and the score was tied at 88 heading into the fourth.

Houston had the ball down by three points in the final minute. Harden missed a wild 3-pointer while trying but failing to draw a foul, and the Thunder got control in a scramble. Westbrook found Andre Roberson for a layup with 21 seconds left to put the Thunder up 112-107.

76ers 105, Knicks 98: Joel Embiid had 25 points and 16 rebounds, JJ Redick scored 24 points, and the Philadelphia 76ers snapped a five-game losing streak with a 105-98 victory over the New York Knicks on Monday.

Neither player was cleared to play until going through pregame warmups, and their presence gave the 76ers just enough to win their first Christmas Day appearance since 2001.

Embiid, who has been battling a bad back, powered through a big-man duel with Enes Kanter, who had a season-high 31 points and a career-best 22 rebounds.

Redick, who missed the last game with right hamstring tightness, helped the 76ers pull away from an 89-all tie midway through the fourth quarter.

Kristaps Porzingis scored 22 points for the Knicks, who fell to 22-30 on Christmas with their fifth straight loss on the holiday.

Villanova still at No. 1, top 4 unchanged

Villanova stayed comfortably at No. 1 in an AP Top 25 poll that offered little change at the top.

The top four teams stayed the same in Monday’s new poll , led by the Wildcats (12-0) receiving 43 of 65 first-place votes to stay at No. 1 for the third straight week. No. 2 Michigan State (12-1) was second and had 16 first-place votes, while third-ranked Arizona State (12-0) had six first-place votes to stay ahead of No. 4 Duke (12-1).

Those four teams won their six games last week by an average margin of 39.7 points, leaving their coaches to focus on tuning elements of their games before the bulk of conference play takes hold.

“I guess if you were to ask me where do you want to be at Christmas: would you like to be winning games by an average of 20 points a game … and can you be 12-1?” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said after last week’s 102-60 win against Long Beach State. “I think I’d have taken that. Plus I’m seeing improvement.”

For the preseason No. 1 Blue Devils, in particular, a lighter December schedule due to exams and the holidays has offered some needed practice time following a travel-filled opening month.

“We had some good practices so we looked better defensively and hopefully we will continue to do that,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said after last week’s 104-40 win against Evansville. “Once we get back we have a tough game (against No. 24 Florida State), but we’ll have more continuity. And that’s what this group needs, a young group especially needs the continuity.”

Texas A&M (11-1) climbed to fifth, followed by Xavier, West Virginia, Wichita State, Virginia and TCU to round out the top 10. Those teams all climbed between three and five spots.

TCU (12-0) has the nation’s longest winning streak at 17 games dating to last season’s NIT championship after Friday’s win against William & Mary , and now has the highest ranking in program history.

Joining TCU in rising five spots is No. 12 Oklahoma, led by freshman star Trae Young. No. 9 Virginia is up four spots.

Four ranked teams took big slides after losses to unranked opponents last week.

Miami and Kentucky both fell nine spots to Nos. 15 and 16 in the biggest slides of the week after the Hurricanes lost to New Mexico State in the Diamond Head Classic and the Wildcats lost to UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic in New Orleans.

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