Last Updated:April 05, 2025, 09:57 IST

Houston Rockets beat Oklahoma City Thunder 125-111 as Boston Celtics set a new record for the number of three-pointers scored in a single NBA season.

Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun combined for 65 points as the Houston Rockets halted Oklahoma City Thunder‘s 11-game winning streak on Friday with a statement 125-111 victory.

In a potential Western Conference finals preview, the Rockets produced a dominant all-round performance to jolt the top-seeded Thunder’s all-conquering preparations for the postseason.

Green finished with 34 points from 11-of-24 shooting while Turkish big man Sengun made 31 points as second-placed Houston improved to 51-27.

Oklahoma City grabbed the lead in the opening minutes of the first quarter, but Houston soon knocked the Thunder out of their stride with a physical approach to move into the lead before building a 23-point advantage late in the second quarter.

Houston maintained a 20-point cushion with 2min 53sec remaining in the third quarter before a Thunder rally cut the gap to single digits early in the fourth.

But Houston coolly regrouped and snuffed out any chance of a comeback from Oklahoma City.

Houston coach Ime Udoka praised the aggressive scoring approach of Sengun and team-mate Green.

“He was in attack mode the whole time. Him and Jalen were a great combination tonight,” Udoka said of Sengun. “We’re hard to beat when those two are going like that.”

Jalen Williams led the OKC scoring with 33 points while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 22. Chet Holmgren chipped in with 20 points, 18 of them coming from his tally of six three-pointers.

Boston Three-Point Barrage

The Boston Celtics claimed a piece of NBA history by setting a new record for the number of three-pointers scored in a single season.

The NBA champions eclipsed the Golden State Warriors’ record of 1,363 threes set in the 2022-2023 season after adding 14 threes to their season tally in a 123-103 victory over the Phoenix Suns.

Boston’s three-point barrage left them with 1,370 for the season.

Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said the three-point scoring record reflected his team’s work ethic and basketball IQ.

“It says that we fight for a good shot,” Mazzulla said.

“We were able to fight for good looks, versus the coverage. That’s the most important thing, continuing to understand how we’re being defended and how we can create the best shot possible.

“Credit to the guys for continuing to make the right reads.”

Jaylen Brown led Boston’s scoring with 31 points while Jayson Tatum finished with 23 in a win that dealt another blow to the Suns’ hopes of forcing their way into the postseason reckoning.

The Suns’ fifth straight defeat leaves them in 11th place in the Western Conference with a 35-42 record, two wins behind the 10th-placed Sacramento Kings (37-40), 125-102 winners over Charlotte on Friday.

The top six teams in each conference qualify automatically for the playoffs, while teams ranked seventh to 10th enter a four-team play-in tournament to determine the final two playoff places.

In San Antonio, the Cleveland Cavaliers edged closer to locking up the No.1 seed from the Eastern Conference with a nailbiting 114-113 defeat of the Spurs.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – AFP)

A new exhibit curated by the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition (OVAC) has been announced featuring young local artists from around the state from April 4-5.

The Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages Porch crew sits down with Exhibit Guest Curator Narciso Argüelles and Spotlight Artist Michele Pierce about the new event, and how it can take a hobby and make it into a profession.

Q: What is Momentum?

A: It is a yearly art show put on by OVAC. It features emerging artists from 18 to 30 years old, and it’s artists from all over the state. This year it’s going to be in the Yale Theater, on the south side of the metro. The opening is tonight, from 7 to 10 pm, and there we’re going to have a little curator-led tour as well. So it’s going to be an amazing time.

Q: What kind of art will it be?

A: Artists will have a chance to experience exhibiting and selling their artwork. These include a lot of large-scale narrative portraits, we’re going to have a performance art piece, photography, painting, sculpture.

Q: How important is it to celebrate artists and art here in Oklahoma?

A: Artists, I believe, are like the record keepers of culture. Sometimes people don’t see it this way, but as you walk through life, we experience art in many different ways, whether it be photography in advertising or graphic design, but not just murals and things like that. But it’s everywhere around us. So that’s why it’s so important to kind of nurture artists and the creative side because it’s literally everywhere around us.

Tickets for the OVAC Momentum Exhibit can be found on their website.

STILLWATER — Cowboy fans will need a roster handy when the team takes the field next fall to learn all their new players, but there are also going to be a ton of new guys dressed in polos with headsets on along the OSU sideline.

Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy just about cleaned house when it came to his coaching staff after last season’s 3-9 finish. He hired two new coordinators (OC Doug Meacham and DC Todd Grantham) and allowed those guys to fill out their position coaches.

Among the 15 guys listed on OSU’s coaching staff page, only three are in the same role this season as they were the last: Gundy himself, specialists coach Sean Snyder, and strength and conditioning coach Rob Glass. Safeties coach Greg Brown was on OSU’s staff last season as a defensive analyst, but outside of that, every one is new.

In talking with players during the first two weeks of spring ball, the word “intensity” has been said in reference to just about everyone. Gundy mentioned Tuesday how there is more colorful language being said around the practice fields this spring, particularly from the defensive coaches.

Returning defensive tackle Iman Oates said new defensive line coach Ryan Osborn, formerly the defensive coordinator at Charlotte, brings that intensity, and it helps bring the intensity out of his guys. But Oates also heaped praise on Osborn’s teaching ability.

“He’s all over the place, man,” Oates said. “He’s relatable, but he also can teach like no coach I’ve had before. The knowledge of the game, the way he gives the information, it makes it hard to not be able to learn it.”

Jules Montinar takes over coaching the Cowboys’ cornerbacks. He was at East Carolina the past two seasons as the Pirates defensive pass game coordinator and corners coach. He’s also been on staffs at Florida, Georgia and Alabama throughout his career.

Corner Cam Smith is entering his fifth year with the program. He’s started in all 26 of the Cowboys’ games the past two seasons. Smith spoke highly of Montinar’s ability to teach and noted that coaches from all over the staff are holding guys accountable.

“Coach Jules is big on technique, knowing what to do and how to do it and knowing why it’s important,” Cam Smith said. “So I feel like that’s definitely big from a corner standpoint. All the coaching staff holds everybody accountable. The D-line coach can yell at the corners if he see they not really doing what they supposed to be doing. So I just love that everybody’s held to the same standard.”

On the offensive side, there probably isn’t a position coach more under a microscope this offseason than quarterbacks coach Kevin Johns. With all the new players, every position coach will have to work through position battles this spring, but Johns’ four-quarterback battle among Garret Rangel, Zane Flores, Maealiuaki Smith and Hauss Hejny will have the most eyeballs on it.

“Coach Johns, he’s very big time with the mental side of the game — the IQ, the game slowing down,” Smith said. “I feel like I’m understanding the game a lot more with Coach Johns.

“Coach Meacham, he’s really fun because the offense is really quarterback friendly. We like to throw the ball down the field, and that’s what he likes to do, get the ball to his receivers.”

OSU brought in three new tight ends from the transfer portal to compete alongside returners Josh Ford and Quinton Stewart. That group’s new coach is DJ Tialavea, who had been at Utah State (his alma mater) since 2020. When speaking about Tialavea, Ford brought up that word again: intensity.

“Man, Coach DJ, I’d say just everything we do, the intensity is up,” Ford said. “I love that. Say it’s a Thursday morning run, we’re in here at 6 a.m. running 200s, that’s basically game day for us. He gets us all in the right mindset, like we’re gonna dominate this. He encourages us to be the first in everything. If there’s a line across the field and we end a drill over here on this corner, he’s expecting us to be the first there, be the first in line in every single line.”