Celtics break record for 3-pointers in a season, Lakers beat Pelicans

The Boston Celtics set a new NBA single-season record for 3-pointers made on Friday as the Oklahoma City Thunder saw their streak of 11 straight wins snapped against the Houston Rockets.

Reigning NBA champions, the Celtics set the new 3-point shooting record during their 123-103 win over the Phoenix Suns, with five games still to go until the end of the regular season.

Boston reached 1,364 3-pointers this season with a shot by Payton Pritchard in the second quarter. The Celtics thus surpassed the 1,363 made by the Golden State Warriors with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson in the 2022-2023 campaign.

In all, the Celtics dominated the Suns with 14 3-pointers, three of them by guard Jaylen Brown, his team's top scorer with 31 points.

Forward Jayson Tatum finished with 23 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists, and Latvian center Kristaps Porzingis had 15 before leaving for the locker room with a bloody nose after being elbowed on a drive to the basket by Cody Martin.

For the Suns, who are missing Kevin Durant, shooting guard Devin Booker had 37 points.

The Celtics, second in the Eastern Conference, failed to overtake the Cleveland Cavaliers, who beat the San Antonio Spurs 114-113 with 25 points and 12 rebounds by center Evan Mobley.

SGA surpasses Jordan's mark

In the West, the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder lost 125-111 to the visiting Houston Rockets and had their 11-game winning streak snapped.

The young and hungry Rockets, second in the conference, confirmed themselves as a dangerous Playoff contender with an offense led by point guard Jalen Green and center Alperen Sengun, with 34 and 31 points, respectively.

For the Thunder, point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 22 points to surpass a mark set by the legendary Michael Jordan.

SGA, Nikola Jokic's biggest rival for the MVP award, had his 70th consecutive game with at least 20 points, one more than Jordan in the 1990-91 season, and keeps alive a streak that has not been seen in the NBA since 1964.

Ahead of SGA are only Wilt Chamberlain, who had 80 games in the 1961-62 and 1963-64 campaigns, and Oscar Robertson, with 76 in 1963-64.

Pistons return to playoffs

In their game, the Detroit Pistons defeated the Toronto Raptors, 117-105, on their home court to seal a spot in the Playoffs for the first time since 2019.

The iconic franchise, a three-time NBA champion, staged one of the year's great resurrections after they were the worst team last season with a 14-68 record.

Detroit, ranked fifth in the East (43-34), did not need its leader, Cade Cunningham, to beat Raptors, with a great performance by center Jalen Duren, who had 21 points and 18 rebounds.

In the day's finale, Stephen Curry's Warriors (36 points) beat Nikola Jokic's Denver Nuggets (33), 118-104, while the Los Angeles Lakers won 124-108 over the New Orleans Pelicans with 35 points from Luka Doncic and another 27 from LeBron James.