Oklahoma City Thunder rally to top Boston Celtics, push NBA winning streak to 15
Sign up now: Get the biggest sports news in your inbox
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander shooting the ball while being defended by Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
LOS ANGELES – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 33 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder “had fun” and clamped down defensively in the second half to beat the National Basketball Association (NBA) champions Boston Celtics 105-92 on Jan 5 for a franchise-record 15th straight win.
For the fourth straight game, the Western Conference-leading Thunder won after trailing by at least a dozen points.
But Thunder coach Mark Daigneault played down the win over the champions, saying: “It’s one of 82, like I told you before the game. Every game’s a different challenge. We’re all running our own race.
“We happen to be bumping against them. We’ll go our separate ways. So will they...
“We’re in the position we are right now because we’ve improved, and we’ve had our heads down and been very present in competition, and if we want to continue to improve, that’s what we have to continue to do.”
Thunder forward Luguentz Dort scored 11 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter, drilling back-to-back three-pointers to put Oklahoma City up 100-88 with 1:59 remaining.
Dort drained another from beyond the arc to cap the scoring in the final minute.
In a game tipped as a potential NBA Finals preview, the Thunder held the Celtics to just 27 points in the second half, snapping Boston’s winning streak at three games.
“We’re out there having fun,” Dort said. “Any time somebody does something well, we’re always out there cheering for them. We’ve been building this chemistry for years, and we’re clicking right now.”
The game was the second of three straight against the Eastern Conference’s top three teams for the Thunder.
On Jan 3, they rallied to end the third-placed New York Knicks’ nine-game winning streak.
With the second-place Celtics taken care of, the 30-5 Thunder will look forward to taking on the Eastern Conference-leading Cavaliers in Cleveland on Jan 8.
The Cavaliers notched their 10th straight win, pushing their league-best record to 31-4 with a 115-105 victory over the reeling Charlotte Hornets.
Darius Garland scored 25 points, Jarrett Allen added 19 points and 11 rebounds and Donovan Mitchell shook off a slow start to finish with 19 points as Cleveland improved to 18-1 at home.
In Oklahoma City, Jayson Tatum scored 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Celtics.
Jaylen Brown scored 21 points and Kristaps Porzingis added 19, but Boston connected on just nine-of-46 three-point attempts and, like a string of teams before them, crumbled in the face of Oklahoma City’s suffocating second-half defence.
Brown, back after missing two games with a shoulder injury, piled up 10 points in the first period to help the Celtics emerge from a tight first quarter with a three-point lead.
Boston pushed the advantage to as many as 13 before hitting half-time with a 10-point edge.
Oklahoma City whittled that to four going into the final quarter and regained the lead for the first time since the first quarter, when Jalen Williams drilled a pair of free throws minutes into the fourth.
The Thunder would not trail again. Although the Celtics twice pulled level, they had no real answer.
Tatum’s nine points were the only points by a Celtics starter in the final frame and Brown had zero-for-seven shooting in the second half.
“The first half was ours,” Porzingis said. “The second half was theirs by a wide margin.”
Celtic coach Joe Mazzulla highlighted Oklahoma City’s 17 points off turnovers in the second half as crucial to the loss.
“That’s a product of poor spacing, poor physicality on the ball, and just poor screening,” he said.
“They’re a team that fights for matchups and, I thought we did a great job of that in the first half. But those 17 points off turnovers were the difference-maker down the stretch.”
In Houston, Jalen Green scored 33 points and Amen Thompson added 23 points and 16 rebounds for the Rockets, who defeated LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers 119-115.
Meanwhile, the New Orleans Pelicans, fuelled by 25 points from C.J. McCollum and a triple-double of 14 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists from Dejounte Murray, beat the Wizards 110-98 in Washington.
In San Francisco, Malik Monk and Domantas Sabonis each posted a double-double for the Sacramento Kings, who rode a dominant first half to a 129-99 win over the Golden State Warriors.
Elsewhere, Brice Sensabaugh scored 27 points off the bench as the short-handed Utah Jazz earned their second straight victory following a five-game losing streak, beating hosts Orlando Magic 105-92. AFP, REUTERS
