Celtics Rally To Top Winless Thunder 101-95

Jayson Tatum scored 24 points, and the Boston Celtics rallied from a 16-point halftime deficit to beat the winless Oklahoma City Thunder 101-95 on Thursday night.

Marcus Morris added 21 points, Al Horford scored 19 and Kyrie Irving had 15 for the Celtics.

Paul George scored 22 points for Oklahoma City, but shot just 7 of 22. Russell Westbrook had 13 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists, but he shot 5 for 20. The Thunder and Cleveland Cavaliers are the only winless teams in the league.

Morris hit a 3-pointer with 27 seconds left to give the Celtics a 98-95 lead, and they held on.

Oklahoma City led 50-34 at halftime. Boston shot just 32 percent in the first half and missed all 11 of its 3-point attempts.

Boston hit seven of its first 10 3-pointers in the third quarter to trim Oklahoma City's lead to 70-64. At one point, Horford hit three 3-pointers in 41 seconds.

Morris hit a 3 to cut Oklahoma City's lead to 72-70, and a steal and layup by Terry Rozier III tied the game. Morris made a layup late in the quarter to give the Celtics a 74-73 lead at the end of the period. Boston made 9 of 14 3-pointers in the quarter.

The Thunder went up 86-83 on a layup by rookie Hamidou Diallo. Westbrook found Alex Abrines for a 3-pointer with just over five minutes to play, then Abrines hit another 3 on Oklahoma City's next possession to push the lead to seven before the Celtics rallied.

TIP-INS

Celtics: F Gordon Hayward scored five points in 24 minutes. He hasn't played more than 25 minutes this season as he tries to find his way on his surgically repaired left ankle. ... C Aron Baynes (right hamstring strain) and G Jabari Bird (personal reasons) did not play. ... Morris committed three fouls in the first quarter in just 6:50 of playing time.

Thunder: F Jerami Grant got his first start of the season, though he had been averaging 28 minutes per game. He replaced Patrick Patterson. ... The Thunder made just 7 of 28 3-pointers and 14 of 25 free throws.

UP NEXT

Thunder: Host the Phoenix Suns on Sunday.

Celtics: Visit the Detroit Pistons on Saturday.