Heat raze Celtics run; Thunder rip Warriors
MIAMI – Dion Waiters watched his 3-point try bounce off the rim, ricochet off the top of the backboard, then hit the rim again and somehow drop through the net.
It was a huge shot in the final moments, and a lucky one.
That’s what it took to end Boston’s 16-game winning streak.
Goran Dragic scored 27 points, Waiters had 26 with a pair of big 3-pointers in the final minutes and the Miami Heat held on to beat Boston 10498 on Wednesday night and become the first team to beat the Celtics since Oct. 18.
“You can tell they were locked into this game,” Celtics star Kyrie Irving said. “They wanted it and proved it.”
In Oklahoma, Russell Westbrook said in the buildup before playing ex-teammate Kevin Durant and the Golden State Warriors that it was just another game. His play said otherwise. The reigning MVP scored a seasonhigh 34 points and added 10 rebounds and nine assists to help the Thunder roll past the Warriors, 108-91.
It was Oklahoma City’s first win over Golden State since Durant left the Thunder to join the Warriors after the 2015-16 season. Golden State won all four meetings last season by an average of nearly 20 points.
Westbrook, who usually is animated anyway, was more talkative on the court than usual. At one point in the third quarter, Westbrook and Durant went forehead to forehead and were called for double technicals. Westbrook downplayed the incident later.
IN OTHER RESULTS: Cleveland downed Brooklyn, 119-109; Charlotte stunned Washington, 129-124; Philadelphia routed Portland, 101-81; New York thwarted Toronto, 108-100; Houston clipped Denver, 125-95; Dallas nipped Memphis, 95-94; Minnesota fended off Orlando, 124-118; New Orleans downed San Antonio, 107-90; Milwaukee stopped Phoenix, 113-107; Utah thumped Chicago, 110-80; the Sacramento Kings trounced the Los Angeles Lakers, 113-102; and the Los Angeles Clippers crushed the Atlanta Hawks, 116-103. – AP