Jalen Hurts scored on the “tush push” that gave him the NFL record for most rushing scores by a quarterback in a season, threw for a touchdown, and the Philadelphia Eagles maintained control of their NFC East title hopes with a 33-25 win over the New York Giants. The Eagles snapped a three-game losing streak. The losses to San Francisco, Dallas and Seattle essentially ended Philadelphia’s bid for the No. 1 seed in the NFC. The Eagles need to win their final two games against Arizona and a rematch against the Giants to clinch the NFC East.
Lamar Jackson threw two touchdown passes in a span of 18 seconds in the third quarter and the Baltimore Ravens intercepted Brock Purdy four times in a 33-19 victory over the San Francisco 49ers. Jackson and the Ravens turned a highly anticipated matchup between the top two teams in the NFL into a lopsided win thanks to strong performances on both sides of the ball. Kyle Hamilton and the defense set the tone early by intercepting Purdy on three of the first four drives of the game for the 49ers before Jackson started to take the game over.
Las Vegas got a pair of defensive touchdowns for the second straight week, and the resurgent Raiders held off the sloppy Kansas City Chiefs 20-14 on Monday to keep their postseason hopes alive. Bilal Nichols returned a fumble 8 yards for a touchdown, and Jack Jones took an interception 33 yards for another score a mere 7 seconds later, helping the Raiders snap a six-game losing streak to the Chiefs. Kansas City wasted a chance to clinch its eighth consecutive AFC West title while dealing a crippling blow to its chances of earning the No. 1 seed and a first-round playoff bye.
NBA
Kristaps Porzingis had 28 points and 11 rebounds, Jayson Tatum added 25 points and the Boston Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers for the first time in Christmas Day meetings 126-115 on Monday. Jaylen Brown had 19 points and Derrick White chipped in with 18 points and 11 assists. All five starters had at least 18 points for the Celtics, who have won three straight and 12 of their past 14. Anthony Davis scored a game-high 40 points with 13 rebounds, LeBron James had 16 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, but the Lakers have dropped six of eight since winning the inaugural In-Season Tournament.
Jalen Brunson scored 38 points and the New York Knicks snapped Milwaukee’s seven-game winning streak, ending their lengthy skid against the Bucks with a 129-122 victory. The Knicks had dropped nine straight meetings, including a 130-111 loss on Saturday in the opener of this two-game series. The Bucks had handled New York easily twice while rolling through their December schedule, but they haven’t solved Brunson all season. The point guard got plenty of help from his teammates Monday. Julius Randle added 24 points and nine rebounds, RJ Barrett bounced back from a poor game Saturday with 21 points and Immanuel Quickley came off the bench for 20 points.
Luka Doncic scored 50 points to eclipse 10,000 for his career and had 14 assists, lifting the Dallas Mavericks to a 128-114 win over the Phoenix Suns. Doncic capped a Christmas Day full of NBA games with a stellar performance, hitting 8 of 16 from 3 and all 12 of his free throws. He eclipsed 10,000 career points in the first quarter to reach the milestone in 358 career games, seventh fastest in NBA history. Phoenix's Grayson Allen scored 19 of his 32 points in the third quarter to help the Suns rally from a 15-point deficit. Chimezie Metu added 23 points and a career-high 19 rebounds.
Jamal Murray scored 28 points, Nikola Jokic overcame an bad shooting day by going 18 of 18 from the free-throw line and the Denver Nuggets extended their winning streak to five games by holding off the Golden State Warriors 120-114 on Monday. Jokic finished with 26 points despite going 4 of 12 from the floor. He set a career-high with his 18 made free throws. Jokic also had 14 rebounds and eight assists. Andrew Wiggins gave the Warriors a boost off the bench by scoring 22 points as he returned to the floor after missing two games with an illness. Stephen Curry had 18 points.
men’s college basketball
Florida Atlantic jumped seven places to No. 7 in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll following a double-overtime win over No. 4 Arizona. It’s the Owls’ highest ranking ever after being No. 10 in the preseason AP Top 25. They made a surprising run to the Final Four last season and returned nearly everyone from that team. Purdue remained at No. 1 for the second straight week, with Kansas, Houston, Arizona and UConn rounding out the top five.
South Carolina remained the No. 1 team in The Associated Press women’s basketball poll Monday. The Gamecocks received all 36 votes from a national media panel, marking the seventh consecutive week that they’ve been No. 1. South Carolina had a run of 38 straight weeks as the top team over the previous two seasons before LSU was the preseason No. 1 this year. With most teams having a light schedule last week ahead of the holidays, the top 10 were unchanged. UCLA, North Carolina State, Iowa and Texas followed the Gamecocks. Southern California, LSU, Colorado, Stanford and Baylor were next. West Virginia entered the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2021 while Washington fell out.
College Football
Washington coach Kalen DeBoer is the pride of South Dakota as the Huskies prepare for their College Football Playoff semifinal against Texas Jan. 1. DeBoer grew up in the state and was head coach at Sioux Falls when the Cougars won three NAIA championships from 2006-09. DeBoer had six coaching stops in 12 years after leaving Sioux Falls. His head coaching record is 103-11 at the NAIA and NCAA levels. The people who know DeBoer say if there were a Mount Rushmore of football in the Mount Rushmore State, DeBoer would belong up there if Washington wins the national title.
On this day in in Sports, December 26 – 1919, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox reached an agreement to move future Baseball Hall of Fame pitching slugger Babe Ruth to New York.
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