NBA: Red-hot Thunder win at Boston in battle of elite teams

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 and Chet Holmgren had 23 points and 15 rebounds on Wednesday night to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 118-112 victory over the Boston Celtics in a much-anticipated potential NBA Finals preview.

The Western Conference-leading Thunder withstood a barrage of Boston 3-pointers - a franchise-record 63 attempts in all - to sweep the defending NBA champions in the two-game season series and win for the 17th time in their last 18 games.

Jayson Tatum scored 33 for Boston, which had won five straight and 15 of their last 18 games. Al Horford added 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Derrick White scored 22.

Oklahoma City scored the first nine points of the game and led by 12 midway through the third before Boston tied it 88-all on Tatum's three-point play to end the quarter. It was 98-98 in the fourth before the Thunder ran off eight straight points to pull away.

With the score tied at 98 and eight minutes to play, Kenrich Williams hit a 3-pointer, Gilgeous-Alexander made a pair of free throws and, after Williams hit a free throw, Gilgeous-Alexander made a 15-foot turnaround jumper to make it an eight-point game.

Boston's 36 3-point attempts in the first half were the most in any half in NBA history. They finished 20 for 63 - tying the third most attempts in league history.

Streaking Wolves rout Nuggets

Anthony Edwards scored 29 points, Julius Randle added 25 and the Minnesota Timberwolves extended their winning streak to six games by routing the Denver Nuggets 115-95.

Rudy Gobert finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who improved to 3-0 against the Nuggets this season. The last game between these two Northwest Division foes is April 1 in Denver.

Donte DiVincenzo had 10 points as Minnesota's bench outscored Denver's reserves by a 26-14 margin.

Nikola Jokic led the Nuggets with 34 points and eight rebounds. He and the rest of Denver's starters were taken out with 5:05 remaining and Minnesota up 109-84.

Minnesota limited Denver to 20 assists, 18 fast-break points and 52 points in the paint. All were below the Nuggets' league-leading averages.

Rockets beat Suns in game marred by fight

Jalen Green scored 29 points to lead the Houston Rockets to a 111-104 victory over the Phoenix Suns in a game where Houston’s Steven Adams and Phoenix’s Mason Plumlee were ejected for fighting.

Alperen Sengun scored 20 points and Dillon Brooks added 19 to help the Rockets extend their winning streak to four.

Bradley Beal's two free throws got the Suns within eight with about 9 1/2 minutes to go before Houston used a 9-2 run to make it 99-84 with about seven minutes remaining. Jock Landale opened the run with a 3-point play and Brooks capped it with a layup after a turnover by Devin Booker.

Adams and Plumlee were ejected before halftime after getting into a fight where Adams wrestled Plumlee to the court

Beal had 25 points and Booker and Kevin Durant added 19 each as the Suns lost for the third time in four games.

Houston’s Fred VanVleet had 10 points in 28 minutes in his return after missing 16 games with a right ankle strain.

Wednesday's scores
Atlanta Hawks 123, Charlotte Hornets 110
Boston Celtics 112, Oklahoma City Thunder 118
Toronto Raptors 118, Philadelphia 76ers 105
San Antonio Spurs 126, Dallas Mavericks 116
Miami Heat 104, Los Angeles Clippers 119
Memphis Grizzlies 122, Utah Jazz 115
Houston Rockets 111, Phoenix Suns 104
Denver Nuggets 95, Minnesota Timberwolves 115
Portland Trail Blazers 113, New York Knicks 114