BOSTON STREAK ENDS AT MIAMI
Westbrook shines as Thunder roll over Warriors
THE Boston Celtics’ 16-game winning streak came to an end with an upset defeat against the Miami Heat on Wednesday as Russell Westbrook won his duel with Kevin Durant in Oklahoma City’s rout of Golden State.
Goran Dragic and Dion Waiters were the stars for Miami as the Heat claimed a 10498 win in front of their home fans to stun Boston. Dragic scored 27 points while Waiters added 26, including a crucial pair of late three-pointers, as the Heat held on the win.
It was the first loss for the Celtics since they succumbed in the opening two games of the season.
In-form Celtics star Kyrie Irving meanwhile had an off-night by his recent standards, finishing with a relatively modest 23 points.
Irving missed all three of his three-point attempts and made only 11 of his 22 field goal attempts.
Boston had trailed 63-79 at the end of the third quarter but stormed back to get within one point at 91-90 in the fourth.
However, back-to-back three-pointers from Waiters gave Miami a seven-point cushion which was good enough to see them home.
Elsewhere Wednesday, there was little Thanksgiving cheer on show in Oklahoma City as the Thunder gave former hero Durant and the Warriors a rough ride in front of their home fans.
Durant, who left the Thunder in 2016 in a blockbuster move, was subdued as former teammate Westbrook piled on 34 points in a 108-91 win.
Westbrook was backed with hefty performances from Carmelo Anthony with 22 points and Paul George with 20 points.
New Zealander Steven Adams had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds as OKC improved to 8-9.
In Cleveland, LeBron James produced a devastating late scoring burst as the Cavaliers rolled to their sixth straight win in 119-109 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.
James scored 23 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter, a run which included 18 straight to break the Nets’ resistance at QuickenLoans Arena.
James made four three-pointers with six rebounds and five assists as the Cavs improved to 11-7 to continue their climb up the Eastern Conference standings.
The two sides had been evenly matched at 77-77 heading into the final quarter before James’ scoring spree tipped the game in the Cavs favour. AFP