The Boston Celtics came to Oklahoma City to play the Thunder riding a six-game winning streak with OKC owning a four-game streak of their own.
The game was tight from the opening tip to the final moments of the first half, when a series of missed shots and forced turnovers gave the Thunder a nine-point lead going into the break, the largest lead for either team.
Boston charged back to within two early in the penultimate frame behind a balanced effort by Boston’s starters, the Thunder unable to contain the Celtics’ offense early in the third quarter.
The game remained within two possessions until a late pair of Kemba Walker treys sandwiching a Chris Paul jumper with about two minutes left in the game gave the Celtics an eight-point lead.
OKC would not go quietly on their home court, however, with Oklahoma City charging back to within one in the game’s waning seconds with heroics from Paul and teammate Dennis Schroder.
Winning plays from @smart_MS3 . Check out tonight's @JetBlue Play of the Game. pic.twitter.com/n73neHVJ47
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) February 9, 2020
The Thunder would come up a point short as Paul hit a trey with time expiring, and Boston moved to 37-15 and their seventh win in a row.
The Celtics were led by UConn product Walker’s 27 points — including 11-of-13 from the freethrow line — and first-time All-Star Jayson Tatum’s 26 points and 11 rebounds.
Wing Jaylen Brown logged 17 points, and all five Boston starters finished in double figures.
OKC saw excellent performances from forward Danilo Gallinari (24 points and 5 boards), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (24 points and 6 rebounds) and Chris Paul (22 points, 5 boards and 5 assists), but it was just shy of enough to win the day.
The Thunder also saw Schroder contribute 22 points and 7 boards off the bench in the loss for OKC, ending their winning streak.
The Boston Celtics next play the Houston Tickets at Toyota Center at 9:30 pm on Tuesday, February 11th.
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