WASHINGTON (AP) — Jalen Green scored 22 of his 29 points in the third quarter and the Houston Rockets routed the short-handed Washington Wizards 135-112 on Tuesday night.
Alperen Sengun added 26 points and 10 rebounds, Amen Thompson scored 20 points and grabbed 15 boards, and Fred VanVleet had 19 points as the Rockets improved to 6-1 on the road against Eastern Conference opponents.
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Washington Wizards head coach Brian Keefe looks on during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Houston Rockets, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jess Rapfogel)
Washington Wizards forward Alex Sarr (20) reaches for the ball as Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun (28) and guard Fred VanVleet (5) defend during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jess Rapfogel)
Houston Rockets forward Amen Thompson dribbles the ball down the court during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Washington Wizards, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jess Rapfogel)
Houston Rockets forwards Jeff Green (32) and Amen Thompson (1) high five after scoring against the Washington Wizards during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jess Rapfogel)
Washington Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma (33) shoots against Houston Rockets forward Jeff Green (32) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jess Rapfogel)
Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka looks on during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Washington Wizards, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jess Rapfogel)
Houston Rockets center Steven Adams (12) goes up for a shot against Washington Wizards center Jonas Valanciunas (17) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jess Rapfogel)
Washington Wizards forward Corey Kispert gestures after scoring a three-pointer against the Houston Rockets during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jess Rapfogel)
Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun (28) goes up against Washington Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma (33) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jess Rapfogel)
Houston overcame a 20-point first quarter — the fewest points allowed by last-place Washington in a period this season.
Corey Kispert scored 23 points and Jonas Valanciunas added 18 in the Wizards' third straight defeat.
Washington leading scorer Jordan Poole missed his second straight game with a bruised left hip, and fellow starter Kyle Kuzma exited at halftime with a bruised right calf.
Rockets: Thompson continues to blossom in his second season, posting another impressive double-double after scoring a season-high 23 points and grabbing a career-high 16 rebounds in Sunday's 119-115 home win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Wizards: A marginally improved 4-10 stretch will be hard to sustain if Poole and Kuzma miss more time. Kuzma has played in only half of Washington's 34 games this season.
Houston put the game away with a 21-6 third-quarter run to extend its lead to 95-74. Green scored 11 points and sank three 3-pointers during that stretch,
Washington's 18 turnovers led to 35 Houston points, the most a Wizards opponent has scored directly from giveaways this season.
Washington visits Philadelphia Wednesday. The Rockets head to Memphis Thursday.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Washington Wizards head coach Brian Keefe looks on during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Houston Rockets, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jess Rapfogel)
Washington Wizards forward Alex Sarr (20) reaches for the ball as Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun (28) and guard Fred VanVleet (5) defend during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jess Rapfogel)
Houston Rockets forward Amen Thompson dribbles the ball down the court during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Washington Wizards, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jess Rapfogel)
Houston Rockets forwards Jeff Green (32) and Amen Thompson (1) high five after scoring against the Washington Wizards during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jess Rapfogel)
Washington Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma (33) shoots against Houston Rockets forward Jeff Green (32) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jess Rapfogel)
Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka looks on during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Washington Wizards, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jess Rapfogel)
Houston Rockets center Steven Adams (12) goes up for a shot against Washington Wizards center Jonas Valanciunas (17) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jess Rapfogel)
Washington Wizards forward Corey Kispert gestures after scoring a three-pointer against the Houston Rockets during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jess Rapfogel)
Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun (28) goes up against Washington Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma (33) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jess Rapfogel)
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli soldiers recovered the body of a 53-year-old hostage in an underground tunnel in southern Gaza, the military said Wednesday, and the army was determining if another set of remains belongs to the man's son.
The discovery of Yosef AlZayadni's body comes as Israel and Hamas are considering a ceasefire deal that would free the remaining hostages in Gaza and could halt the fighting. Israel has declared about a third of the 100 hostages dead, but believes as many as half could be.
Yosef and his son Hamzah AlZayadni were thought to still be alive before Wednesday’s announcement, and news about their fate could ramp up pressure on Israel to move forward with a deal.
The military said it found evidence in the tunnel that raised “serious concerns” for the life of Hamzah AlZayadni, 23, suggesting he may have died in captivity.
Yosef AlZayadni and three of his kids were among 250 hostages taken captive after Hamas-led militants stormed out of Gaza into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people.
AlZayadni, who had 19 children, worked at the dairy farm at southern Israel’s Kibbutz Holit for 17 years, said the Hostages Families Forum, a group representing the relatives of captives. AlZayadni's teenage children, Bilal and Aisha, were released along with most of the hostages in a weeklong ceasefire deal in November 2023.
The family are members of the Bedouin community, part of Israel’s Palestinian minority who have Israeli citizenship. The traditionally nomadic community is particularly impoverished in Israel and has suffered from neglect and marginalization. Palestinians make up some 20% of Israel’s 10 million population, and millions more live in Gaza and under Israeli military occupation in the West Bank.
Eight members of Israel’s Bedouin minority were abducted in the October 2023 attacks.
Yosef AlZayadni appeared on a list of 34 hostages shared by a Hamas official with The Associated Press earlier this week who the militant group said were slated for release. Israel said this was a list it had submitted to mediators last July, and that it has received nothing from Hamas.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that a ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas is “very close” and he hopes “we can get it over the line” before handing over U.S. diplomacy to President-elect Donald Trump’s administration later this month.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed sorrow at the news of AlZayadni's death, and said in a statement he had “hoped and worked to bring back the four members of the family from Hamas captivity.” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz earlier said the bodies of both Yosef and Hamzah AlZayadni had been recovered, but the military said the identity of some remains were not yet determined.
The Hostages Families Forum said the ceasefire deal being negotiated “comes far too late for Yosef - who was taken alive and should have returned the same way.”
“Every day in captivity poses an immediate mortal danger to the hostages,” the group said in a statement.
Many of the families fear their loved ones' fate is at risk as long as the war in Gaza rages on. Israeli forces are pressing their air and ground war against Hamas, and on Wednesday, Palestinian medics said Israeli airstrikes killed at least five people in the Gaza Strip, including two infants and a woman.
An Associated Press journalist saw four of the bodies in the morgue at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, among them a 4-month-old boy. Israel’s military says it only targets militants, accusing them of hiding among civilians.
Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza has since killed over 45,800 Palestinians, according to the territory's Health Ministry. It does not say how many were fighters, but says women and children make up over half the fatalities. The military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
Israel has destroyed vast areas of the impoverished territory and displaced some 90% of its population of 2.3 million, often multiple times.
The fighting has also spilled over into the broader Middle East, including a war between Israel and Hezbollah now contained by a fragile ceasefire, and direct conflict between Israel and Iran.
Iran-backed rebels in Yemen have targeted shipping in the Red Sea for more than a year and recently ramped up missile attacks on Israel, saying they seek to force an end to the war in Gaza. And on Wednesday, the U.S. military said it carried out a wave of strikes against underground arms facilities of the Houthi rebels.
Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel.
Israeli military vehicles move inside the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
A Palestinian looks at a damaged residential building following an overnight Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Mourners transport the bodies of their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, during their funeral in Deir al-Balah, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, as seen from Sderot, southern Israel, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)
Gazelles graze on a field in southern Israel on the border with Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
An electronic billboard beams an image of President-elect Donald Trump and references his threat to unleash hell if hostages held in Gaza are not freed until his inauguration later this month. in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza hold photos of their loved ones during a protest calling for their return, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Destroyed buildings stand inside the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
