Celtics defeat Thunder; Jaylen Brown leads with 31 points
BOSTON — Jaylen Brown netted 14 of his 31 points during a crucial third quarter, leading the Boston Celtics to a 119-109 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night, ending the defending champions’ 12-game winning streak.
Jayson Tatum bounced back from two challenging outings to contribute 19 points and 12 rebounds, along with seven assists, as Boston split the regular-season series between the last two NBA champions.
Brown also recorded eight rebounds and eight assists, and his significant quarter allowed the Celtics to take an 88-83 advantage into the final period. Boston’s lead swelled to as much as 14 points in the fourth quarter.
Oklahoma City narrowed the gap to six with 1:30 left, but a layup from Brown and two free throws from Derrick White secured the win for Boston.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander topped the Thunder with 33 points and eight assists. This marked his seventh consecutive 30-point game against Boston, the longest streak against the Celtics since LeBron James had nine in a row from 2004 to 2008. However, Oklahoma City was outscored 19-2 in second-chance points and managed only 12 of 37 from beyond the arc.
Lu Dort contributed 14 points, while Jalen Williams added seven points in his second game back after a 16-game absence due to a hamstring injury.
The Thunder had secured a two-point win in the initial matchup between the teams two weeks prior in Oklahoma City, although that game featured both teams missing key players.
The Celtics were without Tatum, who was still recovering from Achilles tendon rehabilitation, White (bruised right knee), and Nikola Vucevic (finger). Oklahoma City was missing Williams (strained right hamstring) and Isaiah Hartenstein (bruised left calf).
While Vucevic was again sidelined on Wednesday, the other four players were available for the rematch in a rare late-season clash of top NBA teams still looking to finalize their strategies ahead of the playoffs. The Thunder entered as the top team in the West with the best record in the NBA, while the Celtics held the second-best record in the East.
This victory marked the Celtics’ first win against a team with a record over 40 games above .500 since March 8, 2017, when they defeated the Golden State Warriors.
The Thunder began strong, leading by 11 at the end of the first quarter, but the Celtics responded with a 29-15 run to take their first lead of the night at 49-46.
Information from ESPN Research and The Associated Press was used in this report.
