Only 1 man could end the Celtics’ streak, and his name is Dion Waiters

The Celtics had won 16 straight games, the last three after major comebacks. Boston was on a 13-0 run to pull with one with three minutes left. Only one man could end all of this and bring order back to a lawless world. And his name is Dion Waiters.

Waiters nailed two threes and had a dagger dunk in the closing minutes as the Heat beat the Celtics, 104-98. Thus ends a wild, unfathomable win streak for Boston, one that ran them out into a decent lead in the Eastern Conference after losing Gordon Hayward. The Celtics changed our perception of them over the course of the past month; everyone now acknowledges they are still a force to be reckoned with in the East.

Well, everyone acknowledges that ... except Dion Waiters.

WAS 124, CHA 129 (OT)
BKN 109, CLE 119
POR 81, PHI 101
LAC 116, ATL 103
BOS 98, MIA 104
TOR 100, NYK 108
DEN 95, HOU 125
DAL 95, MEM 94
ORL 118, MIN 124
SAS 90, NOP 107
GSW 91, OKC 108
MIL 113, PHX 107 (OT)
CHI 80, UTA 110
LAL 102, SAC 113

What a bonkers night in the ol’ NBA. Holy smokes.

The story that will be on everyone’s lips: Kevin Durant got in Russell Westbrook’s face and the two jawed at each other, forehead to sweaty forehead ... again! This is hilarious. Durant still claims playing in OKC is no big deal. Westbrook still claims it’s just another game. These dudes are so, so mad at each other. Heavens I hope one of them is an all-star captain.

By the way, Oklahoma City gave the Warriors an unbelievable smackdown, despite the Thunder’s trio of stars playing just OK on offense. Durant smiled through a shower of boos during intros. Westbrook’s defense on one particular play was exceptionally and hilariously bad.

Oh, my heavens, this Devin Booker turnaround 35-footer to force overtime should be worth four and half points, at least!

I’m not sure how this behind-the-back fake-pass dribble from Chris Paul worked. Like, the physics does not make sense to me. Do Newton’s laws recognize a Chris Paul factor? Anyways, almost as unbelievable as that dribble move was the fact that CP3’s teammate Luc Richard Mbah a Moute was a +57 in 26 minutes.

On Monday, Harrison Barnes said he needed to improve as a closer. On Wednesday, he hit a game-winner against the Grizzlies. Shout out to growth mindset.

LeBron James missed a wide-open windmill dunk, which is a bummer. But the Cavaliers have now won six straight, which is nice! And hey, Arthur wants James to guest star.

Who ordered the roast? Oh, it was Joel Embiid telling the world his conditioning is up to 81 percent, shout out to Jalen Rose.

This week’s B-Sides has Whitney Medworth giving 11 reasons she’s thankful for the NBA this year.

Awful news for the Clippers: Patrick Beverley will miss the rest of the season. This year has gone off the rails fast.

There are 38 important international basketball games being played over the next five days. These games will help qualify teams for the 2019 FIBA World Cup and, by extension, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Yet no basketball stars are playing in these games. I explain the situation and the problem.

And finally: a referee fell and slid along the baseline, so Tim Hardaway Jr. called him safe. Wonderful.

Happy Thanksgiving! Be excellent to each other and yourself.