Celtics weather Thunder 119-109 to end reigning champs' 12-game winning streak
The Boston Celtics earned one of their best wins of the season on Wednesday night, taking down the red-hot Oklahoma City Thunder at TD Garden.
BOSTON — The Boston Celtics played desperate on Wednesday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder, as they clearly wanted to beat the reigning champions and avenge their loss to them almost two weeks ago. The C's achieved just that with all-around effort, prevailing 119-109 at TD Garden and snapping the Thunder's 12-game winning streak. It was just like old times for the Celtics.
Stars Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum led the way, with the former recording a team-high 31 points to go along with 8 rebounds and 8 assists while the latter notched 19 points, 12 rebounds, and 7 assists in a season-high 35 minutes of play. Boston also got some big help from its bench. Reigning Sixth Man of the Year Payton Pritchard finished with 14 points and scrappy wing Baylor Scheierman posted 11 points in just 20 minutes.
As for the Thunder, MVP hopeful Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had a game-high 33 points while shooting over 80% from the field. Only two other members of the Thunder joined him in double figures. While the C's obviously hoped to hone their skills against the NBA's best, they were also eager to stay afloat in the standings.
This 10-point win allowed them to remain in second place in the Eastern Conference and hold off the surging New York Knicks, who've won seven games in a row. The 48-24 Celtics will now square off with another red-hot team in the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night at TD Garden. Boston only has 10 games remaining in its successful (and surprising) regular season.