Durant delivers on both ends, Warriors beat Cavaliers, 99-92
OAKLAND, CALIF. — Klay Thompson hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:33 left, Kevin Durant defended LeBron James and delivered on both ends against Cleveland just as he did six months ago to earn Finals MVP, and the Golden State Warriors beat the Cavaliers 99-92 on Monday in a Christmas Day rematch of opponents from the past three NBA Finals.
Durant’s block against a driving James with 24.5 seconds left went to official review and was ruled clean. Durant finished with 25 points, seven rebounds and five blocked shots.
Kevin Love had 31 points with six 3-pointers and a season-best 18 rebounds, while James contributed 20 points, six rebounds and six assists in a rivalry missing one key piece: the Warriors’ two-time MVP Stephen Curry, who missed his eighth straight game with a sprained right ankle.
Thompson scored 24 points and Draymond Green had a triple-double with 12 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists. It was Golden State’s 12th win in 13 games after its 11-game winning streak was snapped by Denver on Saturday night.
Embiid leads Sixers past Knicks
NEW YORK — Joel Embiid has endured too much misery in the NBA to miss one of the fun days on the schedule.
So as soon as he knew his back felt up to it, he couldn’t wait to get on the court for his first Christmas Day game.
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.
“Especially after what we’ve been through the past four years, I was so excited to play tonight because we’ve been through so much losing,” Embiid said. “And to be able to be one of the few teams in our league that can play on this day, it just shows you how much we’ve improved.”
Neither Embiid nor Redick 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 tied a career best with 22 rebounds. He joined
Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell and Bob Lanier as the only players with a 30-20 game on Christmas, according to research provided to the Knicks by Elias.
“I respect the guy a lot because that guy didn’t play three, four years and coming back (at the) level he’s playing right now,” Kanter said of Embiid. “So it’s cool to play against, go against a guy like that.”
Kristaps Porzingis scored 22 points for the Knicks, who fell to 22-30 on Christmas with their fifth straight loss on the holiday.