Beal, Wizards top Celtics on the road
BOSTON — Bradley Beal scored 25 points, John Wall had 21 points and 14 assists, and the Washington Wizards beat Boston 111-103 on Monday in the Celtics’ first Christmas Day home game in franchise history.
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.
Eastern Conferenceleading Boston lost for the third time in four games. Kyrie Irving and Jayson Tatum each scored 20 points for the Celtics.
Boston opened a 95-90 lead on Irving’s 3-pointer with 6:18 left, but the Wizards responded with a 12-0 run. Beal capped the spurt with a three-point play and a breakaway dunk off of a turnover.
Wall added a layup and two free throws down the stretch to help Washington hold on.
Last season, the teams had a testy rivalry with lots of trash-talking and a few games filled with hard fouls. It was more civil Monday, just a tight defensive game with numerous contested shots and a few hard screens.
The Wizards led by two at halftime and opened the third quarter by scoring 13 of the first 17 points, pulling ahead 65-54 on Marcin Gortat’s threepoint play. Gortat had 11 points and 10 rebounds.
76ERS 105, KNICKS 98
Joel Embiid had 25 points and 16 rebounds, J.J. Redick scored 24 points and Philadelphia snapped a five-game losing streak with a win at Madison Square Garden.
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 a tie at 89 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.
The Knicks battled back to tie it at 89 on Porzingis’ three-point play with 5:20 left, but Philadelphia promptly scored the next seven points to go up 96-89 on Redick’s 3-pointer with 3:34 left to play.