The Washington Wizards withstood a 48-point performance from Philadelphia's Joel Embiid to halt the 76ers eight-game NBA winning streak with a 116-111 triumph on Tuesday, 27 December (EST).

The Boston Celtics shook off a slow start to rout the Houston Rockets 126-102, pushing their league-best record to 25-10 with a third straight win.

Meanwhile, LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers snapped a four-game skid with a convincing 129-110 victory over the Magic in Orlando.

In Washington, Kristaps Porzingis scored 28 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Wizards, who led the Sixers by as many as 16 in the third quarter.

They were up by 11 early in the fourth, but the Sixers slashed the deficit to one on Embiid's alley-oop dunk with 2:59 to play.

Porzingis responded with a three-pointer, and the Sixers wouldn't get the gap below three points the rest of the way.

It was 111-108 when Embiid fell and lost the ball out of bounds, the Wizards quickly pushing the lead back to six points.

Embiid's three-pointer saw Philadelphia pull within 114-111 with six seconds left.

But Deni Avdija made a pair of free throws, Porzingis blocked Embiid's final attempt and the Wizards escaped with the win.

"It would have been great to steal the game tonight, but they deserved it so much more than us," 76ers coach Doc Rivers said. "They played so much harder.

"I'm just disappointed with how we approached the game tonight," Rivers said.

Bradley Beal added 19 points for Washington before he left the game late in the fourth, appearing to hurt himself in a collision with Embiid.