Reggie Jackson had 28 points and eight assists, and Anthony Morrow scored 28 to lift the injury-riddled Oklahoma City Thunder to a 109-94 victory over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night.
It was the second win in six games for the Thunder, who are missing stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.
Jackson, a standout at nearby Boston College from 2008-11, posted his big game a night after scoring a career-high 29 in a loss at Milwaukee.
Rajon Rondo just missed his second triple-double of the season with 20 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds. Avery Bradley added 17 points for Boston, which had won its last two.
The Celtics went 9 for 33 from beyond the 3-point line.
Leading by four entering the final quarter, the Thunder — behind Morrow and Jackson — hit eight of their first 10 shots from the floor and opened a 94-81 lead on Morrow’s floater from the right baseline with 6:13 to play.
They kept up their strong shooting, opening a 105-88 advantage on consecutive 3-pointers by Nick Collison and Morrow.
Alternating between zone and man-to-man defense, Oklahoma City seemed to frustrate the Celtics, who fired up a number of long-range jumpers — missing most of them.
The Thunder trailed 64-59 midway through the third quarter, but went on a 9-2 run to take their first lead on Steven Adams’ free throw. Jackson, who had 14 points and four assists in the quarter, swished a 3 from deep with 0.3 seconds left, giving Oklahoma City a 76-72 edge.
In a first half filled with poor 3-point shooting, the Celtics owned a 51-42 edge at halftime. Boston missed 14 of 19 from beyond the arc, including at least four airballs. The Thunder went 3 for 10 on their 3-point attempts.
Boston jumped out to an 18-3 lead in the opening 6 minutes en route to a 24-15 advantage after one despite going 1 for 7 on 3-pointers.
The Thunder were held to 78 points and shot just 33 percent against Milwaukee on Tuesday.
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TIP-INS
Thunder: Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks was asked if he was tired of giving updates on Durant (broken foot) and Westbrook (broken finger). “I haven’t been asked that in like three weeks,” Brooks said. “No updates. The rehab is going along as planned. We’ll give updates when we know more.” … Four other Thunder players also were out: Perry Jones, Grant Jerrett, Andre Roberson and Mitch McGary. “We have 10 finally. We can go 5-on-5 now (in practice),” Brooks joked.
Celtics: G Marcus Thornton missed the game with a sprained right ankle that he sustained in practice on Tuesday. “He could very reasonably be available Friday,” coach Brad Stevens said. … Boston entered second in the NBA in scoring, but fourth-worst in points allowed. “The offense hasn’t been as good in my eyes as the numbers say and the defense hasn’t been as bad as the numbers say,” Stevens said.
UP NEXT
Thunder: Open a two-game homestand Friday against Detroit.
Celtics: Host LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday.