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BOSTON -- The Boston Celtics took their defense from solid in the first half to stifling in the second.Isaiah Thomas scored 16 of his 26 points after halftime and Al Horford had 18 points and five blocked shots as Boston beat the Charlotte Hornets 96-88 on Friday night to stop a three-game slide.Coach just told us we needed to step up our level of energy a little more on the defensive end, Horford said. We did that and that was the big difference.Getting Thomas back after he missed four straight games with a groin strain didnt hurt, either.Thomas scored nine in the third quarter as the Celtics fought back from a 12-point deficit. He added seven in the fourth to help Boston put away the Hornets.We got stops and got running, Thomas said. The one thing we did in the fourth quarter is we just spaced the floor and made plays for each other. Guys hit big shots.Avery Bradley and Jae Crowder added 12 points apiece for the Celtics, who held the Hornets to 13 field goals in the second half.Charlotte played without leading scorer Kemba Walker, who did not travel with the team due to personal reasons, and lost its fourth straight.Although the Hornets outrebounded Boston 54-46, the Celtics outscored them 38-30 in the paint as Charlotte had trouble converting inside.We have to finish some of these plays, coach Steve Clifford said. You get these point-blank ones and you dont have the floor balance in there back the other way. There were two or three of those that were huge plays.Nicolas Batum led the Hornets with 22 points and 10 rebounds.Ramon Sessions had 13 points and six assists, Marco Belinelli scored 11 and Jeremy Lamb added 10 points for the Hornets.Crowder hit a 3 with 6:11 left to put Boston up 80-79 after Charlotte scored seven straight points. Thomas drew a flagrant foul by Belinelli and hit both free throws. Boston retained possession because of the flagrant, and Crowder drew another foul and added two more free throws to put Boston ahead 84-79.Cody Zeller missed from inside for Charlotte, and Thomas came back with a 3-pointer to make it 87-79 with 4:52 left. Charlotte turned it over right away after the inbounds play and Bradley added another 3 that gave Boston a 90-79 cushion with 4:24 to go.After a basket by Belinelli with 6:32 left completed their 7-0 run, the Hornets went scoreless until his layup with 2:20 remaining cut it to 92-81.Boston held Charlotte to five field goals in the third quarter, when the Hornets were 5 of 23.Charlotte closed the second on a 14-4 run and took a 50-41 lead into halftime. The Hornets led 60-48 early in the third when the Celtics started their surge. Kelly Olynyk hit a 3-pointer to tie it at 62 with 3:57 left, and it was tied 69-all at the end of the third.MISSING KEMBASessions started for Walker and had six assists, but the Hornets offense appeared lost without Walker.Hes one of the best in the league, so we missed him a lot tonight, Batum said. We played better tonight overall. But we should have won that game, anyway. No excuses.COLD OUTSIDEAfter shooting 2 of 14 from beyond the arc in the first half, the Celtics started hitting from outside in the third period. They went 7 of 14 on 3-pointers in the second half and held Charlotte to 19 points in each of the final two quarters.WELCOME BACKThomas hadnt played since scoring 20 points against Houston on Dec. 5. The Celtics went 1/3 in the games he missed and were happy to have him leading the offense once again.It helps all of us just because it opens the floor even more. Teams have to play us a little more honest, said Horford, who also had eight rebounds, five assists and two steals. Its just good to have him back.TIP-INSHornets: Walker is averaging 22.6 points per game. He missed his first game this season, but was expected to return when the Hornets visit Atlanta on Saturday night. Walkers absence made Belinelli and Sessions the only Charlotte players to appear in all 27 games this season.Celtics: Jonas Jerebko scored nine points to lead Bostons reserves.UP NEXTHornets: At the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night.Celtics: At the Miami Heat on Sunday night.Chicago Bulls Gear . -- When the Florida Panthers fell behind by two goals in the first period to the top team in the NHL, it appeared they were on their way to yet another loss. Bulls Jerseys 2019 . -- Linebacker Myles Jack ran for four touchdowns, defensive end Cassius Marsh caught a scoring pass, and No. https://www.cheapbulls.com/ . After Mondays hard-fought loss, the wait seemed longer than usual. Getting set to go their separate ways for a short Christmas break, the Raptors coach credited his team for their effort on a seemingly impossible three-game road trip, urging them to build on that success when they get back to work at the end of the week. Chicago Bulls Store . Numbers Game examines the deal that sees Michael Del Zotto and Kevin Klein switch places. The Predators Get: D Michael Del Zotto. Bulls Jerseys 2020 . -- Bryant McKinnie came out of his stance and lowered his shoulder into a practice squad player, causing a crisp thud to reverberate in the Miami Dolphins practice bubble.Ten-man West Ham United climbed out of the relegation zone with a hard-fought 1-0 win at Crystal Palace on Saturday.Manuel Lanzini scored the only goal of the game, opening his body up to side-foot coolly into the back of the net from Aaron Cresswells pinpoint cross in the 19th minute. Christian Benteke missed several chances to save at least a point for Palace (3-2-3), including one from the penalty spot at the end of the first half.The Hammers (2-1-5) lined up in a new-look formation with three central defenders and Palace came close to exploiting that in the first 10 minutes, but an unmarked Wilfried Zaha pulled a shot wide from inside the box.West Ham certainly enjoyed the better of the first 20 minutes and got their reward when Dimitri Payet and Cresswell combined before the latter crossed for Lanzini to slide the opener paast Steve Mandanda.ddddddddddddDespite being outplayed in the first period, Palace should have been on level terms just before the break but Benteke blasted wide from 12 yards after Angelo Ogbonna had fouled him in the box. There was still time for the big Belgian to smash a header into the woodwork before referee Martin Atkinson blew for the interval.Atkinson was to become a central character in the second half; with 15 minutes to go as he turned down a solid-looking penalty appeal for West Ham, booking Cresswell for simulation in the process. Barely a minute later the left-back was in for an early bath after being issued a controversial second yellow card for an innocuous-looking challenge on Zaha. ' ' '