Celtics rout Suns in NBA showdown, Morant has triple double in Memphis win

WASHINGTON: Boston’s Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum turned a matchup of NBA conference leaders into a rout on Wednesday while Ja Morant’s triple double sparked the Memphis Grizzlies over Oklahoma City.

Tatum and Brown each scored 25 points as the Celtics improved the NBA’s best record to 21-5 with a 125-98 blowout victory at Western Conference leader Phoenix.

Boston stayed two games atop Milwaukee in the Eastern Conference while Phoenix fell to 16-9 and a half-game behind New Orleans (16-8) in the West.

The Suns trailed 69-42 at halftime, their largest deficit of the season to that point, and by as many as 45 points in the third quarter.

“We were just really connected,” Tatum said. “We’re just making the right plays. We hit a lot of shots tonight.”

The Celtics, who lost to Golden State in last season’s NBA Finals, improved to 10-3 on the road.

“We’re happy with the way we’re playing,” Tatum said. “But we’re far from satisfied. This doesn’t mean anything if we don’t get back to where we want to get to (the NBA Finals) and get over that hump.

“It’s a long process but we’re trending in the right direction.”

Phoenix welcomed back guard Chris Paul, who missed a month with a heel injury. He had four points, four rebounds and four assists.

Morant, meanwhile, delivered a triple double with 26 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists to lead host Memphis over the Thunder 123-102.

It was a club-record sixth career triple double for the 23-year-old US guard.

“It means a lot,” Morant said. “A lot of credit goes to my teammates and my coaches putting me in positions to excel at a high level.

“We knew rebounding was important. I took it upon myself early on, I think I had seven early. Every other stat was from my teammates. Them