Celtics cool off Thunder; Jaylen Brown stars with 31 points - ESPN

BOSTON — Jaylen Brown scored 14 of his 31 points in a pivotal third quarter, and the Boston Celtics rallied to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 119-109 on Wednesday night, snapping the defending champions' 12-game win streak.

Jayson Tatum recovered from back-to-back rocky performances to contribute 19 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists as Boston earned a split in the two regular-season matchups between the past two NBA champs.

Jaylen Brown collected his 33rd 30-point game this season, tying Paul Pierce for 5th most in a season in Celtics history. Atop that list is Brown's running mate, Jayson Tatum:

Brown added eight rebounds and eight assists, and his big quarter helped the Celtics take an 88-83 lead into the fourth. Boston's edge grew as high as 14 in the final period.

OKC got within six with 1:30 remaining, but a layup by Brown and two free throws by Derrick White helped Boston close out Oklahoma City's first loss since Feb. 25.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 33 points and eight assists. It was his seventh straight 30-point game against Boston, the longest streak vs. the Celtics since LeBron James had nine straight from 2004 to 2008. But Oklahoma City was outscored by the Celtics 19-2 in second-chance points and shot just 12-of-37 from the 3-point line.

Lu Dort added 14 points. Jalen Williams finished with seven points in his second game back following a 16-game absence with a hamstring injury.

The Thunder earned a two-point victory in the first meeting between the teams two weeks ago in Oklahoma City. But that game was played with both sides missing key players.

The Celtics were without both Tatum, who hadn't returned from Achilles tendon rehab, White (bruised right knee) and Nikola Vucevic (finger).