Celtics head to Christmas game after romp over Bulls

Agence France-Presse

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Celtics head to Christmas game after romp over Bulls

AFP

The Celtics warm up for their Christmas showdown with the Wizards with a 117-92 hammering of the Chicago Bulls

LOS ANGELES, USA – The Eastern Conference leading Boston Celtics warmed up for their Christmas tilt against the Washington Wizards with a 117-92 romp past the Chicago Bulls on Saturday, December 23 (Sunday Manila time).

The Celtics out-scored the Bulls 38-18 in the third quarter to pull away, avenging a humbling defeat in Chicago two weeks ago in which Boston scored a season-low 85 points.

Boston guard Kyrie Irving scored 25 points and handed out 7 assists as the Celtics bounced back from a loss to the New York Knicks on Thursday.

In Salt Lake City, reigning NBA MVP Russell Westbrook posted his 11th triple-double of the season to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 100-89 victory over the Utah Jazz.

Westbrook scored 27 points with 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Paul George added 26 points and Carmelo Anthony scored 16 for the Thunder, who beat Utah for a third straight time.

“We wanted to come out and set the tone early,” Anthony said. “Defensively, we did that. Once we set the tone early, we had the momentum going throughout the whole game.”

Oladipo shines

Victor Oladipo was the star in Indianapolis, scoring 38 points and handing out six assists as the Indiana Pacers defeated the Brooklyn Nets 123-119 in overtime.

The Nets led by as many as 19 in the first half, but the Pacers out-scored them 40-23 in the third quarter. Indiana were up by nine before the Nets battled back to force overtime.

“In the second half, things started going our way. We just picked it up and played at a high level at both ends, and we were successful because of it,” Oladipo said.

In Sacramento, the absence of forward Kawhi Leonard and guard Danny Green made no difference to the San Antonio Spurs, who extended their dominance over the Kings with a 108-99 victory.

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 29 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Pau Gasol contributed a triple-double of 14 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists as the Spurs beat the Kings for the 11th straight time. – Rappler.com

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