Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun combined for 65 points as the Houston Rockets halted Oklahoma City's 11-game winning streak on Friday with a statement 125-111 victory.
In a potential Western Conference finals preview, the Rockets produced a dominant all-round performance to jolt the top-seeded Thunder's all-conquering preparations for the postseason.
Green finished with 34 points from 11-of-24 shooting while Turkish big man Sengun made 31 points as second-placed Houston improved to 51-27.
Oklahoma City grabbed the lead in the opening minutes of the first quarter, but Houston soon knocked the Thunder out of their stride with a physical approach to move into the lead before building a 23-point advantage late in the second quarter.
Houston maintained a 20-point cushion with 2min 53sec remaining in the third quarter before a Thunder rally cut the gap to single digits early in the fourth.
But Houston coolly regrouped and snuffed out any chance of a comeback from Oklahoma City.
Houston coach Ime Udoka praised the aggressive scoring approach of Sengun and team-mate Green.
"He was in attack mode the whole time. Him and Jalen were a great combination tonight," Udoka said of Sengun. "We're hard to beat when those two are going like that."
Jalen Williams led the OKC scoring with 33 points while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 22. Chet Holmgren chipped in with 20 points, 18 of them coming from his tally of six three-pointers.
Boston Three-Point Barrage
The Boston Celtics claimed a piece of NBA history by setting a new record for the number of three-pointers scored in a single season.
The NBA champions eclipsed the Golden State Warriors' record of 1,363 threes set in the 2022-2023 season after adding 14 threes to their season tally in a 123-103 victory over the Phoenix Suns.
Boston's three-point barrage left them with 1,370 for the season.
Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said the three-point scoring record reflected his team's work ethic and basketball IQ.
"It says that we fight for a good shot," Mazzulla said.
"We were able to fight for good looks, versus the coverage. That's the most important thing, continuing to understand how we're being defended and how we can create the best shot possible."
Jaylen Brown led Boston's scoring with 31 points while Jayson Tatum finished with 23 in a win that dealt another blow to the Suns' hopes of forcing their way into the postseason reckoning.
The Suns' fifth straight defeat leaves them in 11th place in the Western Conference with a 35-42 record, two wins behind the 10th-placed Sacramento Kings (37-40), 125-102 winners over Charlotte on Friday.
The top six teams in each conference qualify automatically for the playoffs, while teams ranked seventh to 10th enter a four-team play-in tournament to determine the final two playoff places.
The fifth-placed Golden State Warriors inched closer to sealing their top six spot after another magical performance from Stephen Curry helped them to a 118-104 win over the fourth-placed Denver Nuggets, who slid to their third straight loss.
Curry, who scored 37 points in Thursday's win over the Los Angeles Lakers following a 52-point masterpiece against Memphis on Tuesday, finished with 36 points after rattling in seven three-pointers.
The Warriors improved to 46-31 after a fifth consecutive win and are fifth in the standings.
The Lakers are also on track for the playoffs after bouncing back from defeat to the Warriors with a 124-108 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Lakers "big three" of LeBron James, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves all delivered, with Doncic scoring 35 points, Reaves 30 and James 27.
The victory leaves the Lakers in third place in the West with a 47-30 record.
In San Antonio, the Cleveland Cavaliers edged closer to locking up the No.1 seed from the Eastern Conference with a nailbiting 114-113 defeat of the Spurs.
The Detroit Pistons clinched their playoff ticket from the East with a 117-105 road win in Toronto.
With AFP
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