Isaiah Joe scored 31 points off the bench to lead a blistering offensive display for the Oklahoma City Thunder, who rolled to a 10th straight win with Monday's 145-117 rout of the Chicago Bulls.

Joe had eight of Oklahoma City's 23 made 3-pointers while tying a season high in points as the NBA-leading Thunder improved to 28-1 against Eastern Conference teams this season. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 27 points and 12 assists and Jalen Williams tallied 23 points before the two All-Stars both sat out the fourth quarter with the Thunder ahead comfortably.

Josh Giddey compiled 15 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds in his first game in Oklahoma City since joining the Bulls. The Australian spent his first three NBA seasons with the Thunder before being traded to Chicago for defensive specialist Alex Caruso in June.

The Bulls have now lost two straight and fell into 10th place in the East, the final spot for the conference's play-in tournament. Chicago is now one game back of ninth-place Miami after the Heat defeated the Washington Wizards on Monday for their fifth consecutive win.

Joe got the Thunder off to a strong start by scoring 11 points in just six minutes during the first quarter. The Bulls, meanwhile, shot just 30 per cent for the period and trailed 29-18 entering the second quarter.

The Thunder then put the contest out of reach by half-time, as they outscored Chicago by a whopping 45-24 margin in the second quarter to take a commanding 74-40 lead at the break. Joe led the way with 19 first-half points on 7-of-9 shooting, while Williams and Gilgeous-Alexander chipped in 15 and 14 points, respectively.

The Thunder has now clinched the best record against a conference in NBA history.

28-1 against the Eastern Conference this year.

— Nick Gallo (@NickAGallo) April 1, 2025

Chicago never mounted any threat in the second half, as the Thunder's lead reached as high as 43 points and the Bulls' deficit never got below 25 points.

Scorching Celtics cap 6-0 trip with win over Grizzlies

The Boston Celtics are on quite a run of their own, as the reigning NBA champions pushed their winning streak to nine games by dealing the reeling Memphis Grizzlies a 117-103 loss.

Al Horford put up a season-high 26 points off the bench to complement Jayson Tatum's 25 points in the Celtics' eighth consecutive victory on the road, where they're now 32-7 and two wins from tying an NBA record for away victories in a season. The 2015-16 Golden State Warriors went 34-7.

Boston, which completed the first 6-0 road trip in franchise history, has two more away games remaining, including a clash with the rival New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on April 8.

Ja Morant recorded 26 points and Jaren Jackson Jr. had 20 along with 15 rebounds in Memphis' latest defeat. The Grizzlies have now dropped six of their last seven games and are 0-2 since interim head coach Tuomas Iisalo replaced the fired Taylor Jenkins last week.

6-0 roadtrip

First time in franchise history btwpic.twitter.com/cWbrnnU5mL

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 1, 2025

Memphis did start out strong, as it built a 32-25 lead after one quarter and was ahead by as many as 11 points early in the second. 

The Celtics dominated the late stages of the first half, however. They reversed momentum with a 16-4 run that turned a five-point deficit into a 64-57 edge with one minute remaining in the second quarter.

Tatum's 17 first-half points and Kristaps Porziņģis' 16 helped send Boston into the break with a 66-61 advantage, though Memphis scored the first 10 points of the third quarter to grab a 71-66 lead on Jackson's 3-pointer less than 2 1/2 minutes into the second half.

The Celtics quickly responded, though, as a 17-4 flurry capped by a pair of Jrue Holiday 3-pointers put them up 86-77 with 4:45 left in the period.

Memphis then went just 1 of 10 from 3-point range in the fourth quarter as Boston began to pull away. The Celtics sealed the outcome with an 11-3 run that extended their lead to 110-95 with under seven minutes to go.

Reserves spark Lakers' win over Rockets

On a night where Luka Dončić and LeBron James each struggled, the Los Angeles Lakers got a big lift from their bench to come away with a key 104-98 win over the Houston Rockets.

Reserves Dorian Finney-Smith and Gabe Vincent each made six 3-pointers while scoring 20 points apiece to help the Lakers hand Houston only its second loss in its last 14 games. Doncic also had 20 points despite a 6-of-16 shooting effort, while James managed 16 in 38 minutes while going 5 of 12 from the field.

Los Angeles also used stout defence, particularly against Houston's starting backcourt of Jalen Green and Fred Van Vleet, to cool off the Rockets, who were held under 100 points for only the second time in 21 games since the All-Star break.

Green put up 33 points in Houston's win at Phoenix on Sunday, but was held to nine on 4-of-13 shooting in this one. Van Vleet, meanwhile, missed 12 of 14 shot attempts while generating just seven points in 40 minutes.

Amen Thompson paced the Rockets with 20 points, while Dillon Brooks netted 16 in defeat. 

The Rockets stayed close throughout despite those shooting woes, as they trailed by just two points late after Brooks made 1 of 2 free throws with 20.1 seconds left to trim Los Angeles' lead to 100-98.

James answered with two free throws on the ensuing possession, though, and after Houston missed two shot attempts on its next trip down the court, Finney-Smith sealed the outcome by hitting a pair of foul shots with 3.2 seconds remaining.

Neither offence could get untracked during a sluggish first half in which the teams went into the break tied at 48-48. The Rockets did begin to get some separation early in the third quarter, as a Brooks 3-pointer gave them a 61-56 lead just over three minutes into the second half.

The Lakers countered with a 7-2 run to tie the game, then went ahead for good shortly afterward. Finney-Smith hit a 3-pointer and Vincent followed with two more during a 9-2 surge that staked Los Angeles to a 75-69 advantage with two minutes left in the third quarter.

12 threes from this duopic.twitter.com/SMgkbYPIl2

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) April 1, 2025