Thunder Roll to 15th Win

After having 'fun' in rallying past Celtics, they face Cavs in clash of NBA's top 2

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 33 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder "had fun" and clamped down defensively in the second half to beat the National Basketball Association (NBA) champions Boston Celtics 105-92 on Jan 5 for a franchise-record 15th straight win.

For the fourth straight game, the Western Conference-leading Thunder won after trailing by at least a dozen points.

But Thunder coach Mark Daigneault played down the win over the champions, saying: "It's one of 82, like I told you before the game. Every game's a different challenge. We're all running our own race.

"We happen to be bumping against them. We'll go our separate ways. So will they...

"We're in the position we are right now because we've improved, and we've had our heads down and been very present in competition, and if we want to continue to improve, that's what we have to continue to do."

Thunder forward Luguentz Dort scored 11 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter, drilling back-to-back three-pointers to put Oklahoma City up 100-88 with 1:59 remaining.

Dort drained another from beyond the arc to cap the scoring in the final minute.

In a game tipped as a potential NBA Finals preview, the Thunder held the Celtics to just 27 points in the second half, snapping Boston's winning streak at three games.