KD’S JINGLE BELL BLOCK!
Stuffs James in final seconds to lift G.S.
OAKLAND — LeBron James drove to the basket in the waning seconds and Kevin Durant swatted away any chance Cleveland had at a Christmas Day comeback.
Durant pumped his fist again and again, emphatically shook his head and pounded his chest in delight. It looked a lot like the dominant Durant from the NBA Finals six months ago.
Klay Thompson hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:33 left, Durant delivered on both ends of the floor, and the Golden State War- r i o r s beat the Cavaliers 99-92 on Monday in a festive holiday rematch of the past three Finals.
“There’s just so much joy in the arena today because it’s Christmas and we all feed off of that,” Durant said.
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. “He’s one of the leaders in shot blocks a game and obviously he had five tonight, so he’s been doing a heck of a job of first of all taking the individual matchup and protecting the rim, too,” James said. Kevin Love had 31 points and a season-best 18 rebounds, while James contributed 20 points, six rebounds and six assists in a rivalry missing one key piece: Warriors star 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.
THUNDER 112, ROCKETS 107: Russell Westbrook had 31 points and 11 assists to help the Oklahoma City Thunder stay hot with a home win over the Houston Rockets.
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.
WIZARDS 111, CELTICS 103: Bradley Beal scored 25 points, John Wall had 21 points and 14 assists, and the Washington Wizards beat Boston 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 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. —Associated Press