Notre Dame Cathedral to miss first Christmas in centuries

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By JOE REEDY LOS ANGELES (AP) — Russell Westbrook scored a season-high 40 points, James Harden added 28 and the Houston Rockets rallied from a 16-point deficit in the second half to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 122-117 Thursday night.After Houston turned a 77-61 deficit into a 101-89 lead, Los Angeles went on a spurt of its own to lead 113-107 with 4:29 left. The Rockets closed on a 15-4 run to snap the Clippers' 10-game home winning streak. Paul George led the Clippers with 34 points and Kawhi Leonard added 25.It was the second straight game Houston rallied from a large deficit. They trailed by 25 on Monday night against San Antonio before winning by two, marking the largest comeback in franchise history. The Rockets are 7-6 when trailing by double digits this season.Clippers guard Patrick Beverley had yet another tense night against Westbrook and was ejected with 2:52 remaining after receiving his second technical. Westbrook was also given a technical for taunting Beverley as he left the floor. The Clippers led 69-54 at halftime and extended their lead to 16 three minutes into the third quarter before the Rockets went on a 14-2 run. They scored nine of the last 10 points in the period to lead 90-87 going into the fourth. Westbrook keyed the rally with 11 points in the quarter and Harden scored nine after going 2 for 7 from the field during the first half.Houston held a 16-8 advantage midway through the first quarter before the Clippers went on a 12-0 run with four straight 3-pointers by Leonard, Beverley, Shamet and George.The game remained close until Los Angeles went on a 21-5 run during a five-minute span in the second quarter to take a 65-48 lead with 2:14 remaining. George led the way with 11 points, including three 3-pointers.MILESTONEGeorge grabbed his 4,000th career rebound during the second quarter. He is one of 10 active players that has at least 12,000 points, 4,000 rebounds, 2,000 assists and 1,000 steals.TIP-INSRockets: Harden recorded 10 assists and has 4,412 with Houston, passing Calvin Murphy (4,402) for the most in franchise history. Clippers: Lou Williams was ejected with 11:05 remaining in the fourth quarter after receiving two technicals for arguing a foul. It is the second ejection of Williams' 14-year career. ... This was the 4,000th regular season game in franchise history.UP NEXTRockets: Travel to Phoenix on Saturday. Houston has won 12 straight in the series.Clippers: Travel to San Antonio on Saturday. Los Angeles won the first meeting 103-97 on Oct. 31.___More AP NBA: and

Westbrook scores 40 as Rockets rally to defeat Clippers