NBA highlights on Nov. 8: Bad day for strong teams

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Thursday was not the day for NBA's stronger teams as three of them - the Boston Celtics, the Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors - all trailed by over 20 points at one point in their games before the Celtics alone took a win.

Kyrie Irving saves Celtics with a 22-point return

Kyrie Irving #11 scores 39 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals to help the Boston Celtics defeat the Phoenix Suns 116-109. /VCG Photo

The first quarter at the Talking Stick Resort Arena on Thursday was a nightmare for the Celtics because after Irving made his first shot (3-pt), the team did not even score one point in the following five minutes. Meanwhile, the Suns launched a 11-0 run before the entire team found their target outside the three-point line. Phoenix led 32-13 after the first quarter.

Though Boston got their offense back from the second quarter, the team's defense remained a mess, as it was unable to stop the Suns from expanding the lead to 20 points (55-35). The situation started to change in the second half as the Celtics sped up the game and began to make straight three-pointers, thanks to Irving and Gordon Hayward, to narrow the score difference to 15 points (80-65).

Marcus Morris #13 makes a game-tying three-pointer in the last 0.3 second to drag the game into overtime. /VCG Photo

Boston bet on small-ball squad from the start of the last quarter and Irving stood out. He first kept scoring by attacking the rim and then passed the ball to teammates outside. In the end, Marcus Morris put in a three-pointer when there was only 0.3 second left to drag the game into overtime (100-100).

Having escaped by the skin of their teeth, Boston did not leave any chance for the Suns in OT with a 16-9 to bag the victory of the away game (116-109). Irving made the biggest contributions with 39 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals. His scoring for each quarter and OT was respectively six (Q1), seven (Q2), eight (Q3), 12 (Q4) and six (OT).

Rockets say goodbye to straight winning after record low scoring game

Chris Paul continues his recent poor defense and has to watch the Houston Rockets lose to the Oklahoma City Thunder 80-98. /VCG Photo

The Houston Rockets that just won three games in a row visited the Chesapeake Energy Arena to challenge the Oklahoma City Thunder, who kept a six-straight-win record. As OKC's Russell Westbrook could not play in this game, more expected the home team to see their record of wins come to an end.

However, the Thunder focused on offense with mismatch led by the Rockets' switch defense style to finish the first quarter leading 29-19. Houston's role players including P.J. Tucker and James Ennis helped their team catch up by making consecutive three-pointers in the second quarter, but Oklahoma City's Paul George exploded in offense by scoring 14 points in the quarter, keeping his team leading 59-45 after the first half.

Paul George #13 (blue) makes great contributions to OKC's victory in both offense and defense with 20 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and six steals. /VCG Photo

Houston continued their terrible offense and defense in the second half as they had to watch the score difference fluctuate around 20 the whole time before accepting an 80-98 loss. Eighty points was the lowest score for the Rockets since Mike D'Antoni became head coach in 2016. What made their fans feel worse was that their "Big Three," James Harden, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony were totally lost in offense. Harden made only seven shots out of 19. Paul scored only 10 points and continued his zero-point performance in the first half for three games in a row. Anthony performed the worst by putting in only one shot out of 11 tries.

Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 scores 24 points, nine rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks to help the Milwaukee Bucks take a big win of 134-111 against the Golden State Warriors. /VCG Photo

Other games on Thursday included: (away teams come first)

Los Angeles Clippers 105-116 Portland Trail Blazers

Milwaukee Bucks 134-111 Golden State Warriors