BOSTON ? Marcus Morris buried a three-point shot with 1.8 seconds left to lift the Celtics to a thrilling 100-99 win over Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma Thunder on Tuesday night before a sell-out crowd at the TD Garden.
Rookie Jayson Tatum and Morris filled in the scoring void left by All-Star guard Kyrie Irving to lead three more Celtics in double figures. Tatum had a double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds, Morris contributed 21 points, Greg Monroe scored 17 points, guard Terry Rozier had 14 markers and 6 assists and Shane Larkin provided a much-needed spark in the first half to finish with 13 points and 4 rebounds.
Fans started to exit with under 25 seconds to play and the Thunder up by six, 98-92, when Tatum scored on a finger roll and Westbrook made a free throw to make it 99-94. After a time-out by Boston with 8.4 seconds remaining, Rozier made a long three-pointer to cut the lead to two, 99-97. Thunder forward Carmelo Anthony was immediately fouled to stop the clock but missed both of his free throws — setting up the stage for Celtics? last play.
Tatum made an assist to Morris with time winding down as the latter swished the net with a triple to give the lead back to Boston. In the game’s last play, Westbrook attempted the last shot which missed the mark – officially handing the W to Boston.
Westbrook led the Thunder with 27 points, 7 assists and 8 rebounds and Paul George added 24 points and 13 rebounds.
With the win, the Celtics (48-23) remained 2nd in the East while the Thunder (43-30) are still in 4th place in the West.
Boston went 36-for-87 for a 41.4% clip while the Thunder had 35-for-85 for 41.2% field goal conversion.
The Celtics will visit Portland to play Damian Lillard and the Trail Blazers on Friday, March 23.
