OKLAHOMA CITY — With MVP chants echoing throughout Paycom Center, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander knocked down a pair of free throws to seal another resume-building win.
The Oklahoma City Thunder continued their hot streak as they closed a 127-123 win over the Boston Celtics. The Thunder extended their winning streak to five games, which includes victories over the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves.
“I thought we were pretty resilient tonight,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said on the win. “I thought we took some punches in the game flow. Obviously, opened up a nice lead in the fourth quarter. … Made big plays down the stretch and executed with poise.”
The back-and-forth between two of the best teams in the league lived up to its expectations. The Thunder built a 31-29 lead after the first quarter. By halftime, the Celtics led 61-58.
A 40-point third quarter by the Thunder helped them enter the final frame with a 98-86 lead. OKC created a game-high 18-point lead in the opening five minutes of the period.
With over two minutes left, the Thunder owned a nine-point lead off of a Chet Holmgren 3-pointer. It looked like the dagger before the Celtics’ late 11-4 run turned it into a two-point game with 15 seconds left.
However, the Thunder knocked down their free throws to keep a healthy distance on the scoreboard, and the Celtics ran out of time.
“They’re the No. 1 team for a reason,” Jalen Williams said on Boston’s late run. “They’re gonna make runs and they did a good job at executing down the stretch too. So did we. We kinda were able to hold the lead we had and thought we made some big plays down the stretch.”
Gilgeous-Alexander added: “We knew they were gonna throw a punch once we went up big. Obviously, we’re playing against (the) best record in the league. They’ve won a lot of games, gotten really far in the playoffs.”
Against the third-best defensive-rated team, the Thunder shot 53% from the field and went 18-of-40 (45%) from 3. OKC continues to be a high-octane scoring machine and dished 34 assists in its 48 buckets.
The Thunder finished with five players scoring double-digit points. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander headlined the win with 36 points; the Celtics didn’t have an answer for him.
Meanwhile, Josh Giddey continues to force teams to question their defensive strategies on him with 23 points. After being invited to shoot the ball, Giddey’s outside shot helped OKC collect the win.
Meanwhile, the Celtics shot 46% from the field and went 15-of-40 (37.5%) from 3. Boston enjoyed a friendly whistle; it shot 24-of-29 from the free-throw line. They had 33 assists on their 42 buckets.
The Celtics were led by a pair of 30-point scorers: Jayston Tatum and Kristaps Porzingis. Tatum had 30 points on 10-of-21 shooting, 13 rebounds and eight assists. Porzingis had 34 points on 12-of-18 shooting, 10 rebounds and three blocks.
Jaylen Brown was limited to 15 points on 4-of-18 shooting. The Celtics bench was held in check; it combined for 18 points.
Adding another impressive win over a contender — and arguably the best team in the league — OKC continues to cement its status as a contender despite its youth.
After handing arguably the best team this season its seventh loss of the season, Daigneault said he’s learned how motivated his team is during this recent stretch.
“I think they’re ambitious but I also think they put the work in behind that,” Daigneault said. “They have an uncommon ability to block out the noise and to just stay focused on what we need to get better at.”
The Thunder have won eight of their last nine contests. Despite being showered with praise, the young squad continues to ignore buying into their hype.
“We’re really playing together and we’re prioritizing winning over everything else,” Holmgren said on their recent success. “As far as long term, it doesn’t really prove anything I guess you could say. It doesn’t satisfy anybody. We know we have a long ways to go.”
Let’s look at Thunder player grades.