Tag: Oklahoma City Thunder

Jayson Tatum was called for a technical foul so dumb that even Kevin Durant had to laugh about it

Jayson Tatum was clearly just frustrated with himself.

Boston’s Jayson Tatum was called for the most unnecessary technical foul against Oklahoma City’s Aleksej Pokusevski on Monday night.

Tatum missed a layup on offense, then fouled Pokusevski when he got back on defense, and he was clearly a little frustrated with himself. He clapped his hands in frustration the same way you would when you are disappointed in yourself after realizing you burnt your toast or didn’t get to the post office in time before it closed.

But the referee clearly thought Tatum’s reaction was about the call, and the Boston superstar was whistled for an extremely unexpected technical foul.

There was absolutely no reason for a technical foul, but the damage was already done, and the Thunder took a trip to the free-throw line to cash in after the gifted opportunity.

It didn’t take long for the clip to make the rounds on social media, though, and Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant wasn’t shy about sharing his opinion on what happened.

According to Durant, the whistle against Tatum was the “worst tech” he had seen in a long time. Durant added that the call was so bad that he actually just started laughing.

After the game, when asked about what happened, Tatum shared a similar reaction. He said he was only frustrated with himself, not the referee, and that all he could do about it was laugh.

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Player grades: SGA, young Thunder squad pushes experienced Celtics in 126-122 loss

The experienced Celtics needed a 37-point fourth quarter to avoid an upset home loss against the young Thunder.

The Oklahoma City Thunder might be good. More importantly, they’re definitely fun!

After coming into Monday night as double-digit underdogs against the league-best record Boston Celtics, the Thunder made it a full four-quarter game.

With the Thunder leading by as many as 15 points, the Celtics needed to outscore the Thunder, 37-26, in the fourth quarter to avoid the upset loss against a young squad whose inexperience was on full display in the final 18 minutes.

In that span, the Thunder scored 39 points on an efficient 15-of-31 (48.4 percent) shooting but committed 12 (!!) turnovers.

For perspective, the Thunder had 19 turnovers in the game, and the Celtics had just four during the final 18 minutes.

The Thunder looked discombobulated at times with the self-inflicted turnovers. It was clear the youngest roster in the league is still learning how to close games in tough road environments. Nonetheless, a bad 18 minutes should not take away from an impressive 30.

The Thunder went into TD Garden expected to lose to arguably the best team in the league and instead took the fight to them.

While it’s a loss, not all losses are equal. In this case, losing against the Celtics is not a loss the Thunder should be down on themselves about. While it might not be clear in the immediate aftermath after blowing a seven-point lead to enter the fourth quarter, they should be proud of their effort in this game.

The Thunder are young and inexperienced. The Celtics are battle-tested and one of the oldest teams in the league. This is how games like these are supposed to play out.

The Thunder, who have been the laughingstock over the last couple of years for egregious tanking, stepped up in the brightest stages in Madison Square Garden and TD Garden on a back-to-back.

After three seasons of being overlooked and circled as an easy win in the opposition’s calendars, performances like these go a long way in changing the Thunder’s reputation around the league.

Considering all five Thunder starters played at least 33 minutes and nobody off the bench played more than 19, let’s take a look at Thunder player grades for the five starters.

PHOTOS – Thunder at Celtics: Boston survives OKC 126-122 to extend streak to 7 games

Some of the best plays captured in images from the Celtics’ 14th game of their 2022-23 campaign.

The Boston Celtics hosted a more dangerous version of the Oklahoma City Thunder at TD Garden on Monday night with the NBA’s longest win streak at six games at stake, and when the final buzzer sounded, the Celtics owned a seven-game streak.

Boston beat the Thunder 126-122 despite an atrocious start for the team on both ends through an MVP-level performance from Jayson Tatum (27 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks, 3 steals), with plenty of help from Jaylen Brown (26 points, 6 boards, 6 assists), and Marcus Smart (22 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists). The bench also came through in a big way, with Derrick White adding 16 points and 5 assists, and Payton Pritchard a key spark with 10 points and 4 boards.

Let’s take a look at some of the best plays captured in images from the Celtics’ 14th game of their 2022-23 campaign.

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Oklahoma City Thunder at Boston Celtics: How to watch, broadcast, lineups (11/14)

While not the club they’d hoped to be in the absence of Chet Holmgren, this iteration of OKC is still a threat to beat teams napping.

The 10-3 Boston Celtics host the 6-7 Oklahoma City Thunder this Monday night at their home arena of TD Garden on an NBA-best six-game winning streak. The Thunder are on a two-game win streak of their own powered by Most Improved Player candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. While not the team they’d hoped to be in the absence of prized prospect Chet Holmgren, this iteration of Oklahoma City is still a threat to beat teams napping when the Thunder are on the docket as the Toronto Raptors and New York Knicks just learned.

If you happen to be looking for a way to watch the on-court action live on cable television or a local or national online streaming service, keep reading this preview while we get you up to speed on everything else you need to know about the game tonight.

Let’s begin with the players who are among those listed to be available to play in it.

NBA Power Rankings: Celtics take the top spot behind high-octane offense

Rookie Wire took a look at the NBA through games played on Sunday and ranked each team from worst to first.

The early NBA season provided yet another great week of action behind several elite-level performances from some of the top players in the game.

Joel Embiid asserted his dominance over the weekend with more than 100 points in two games to lead the Philadelphia 76ers. Elsewhere, Jayson Tatum put up yet another 40-point effort as the Boston Celtics look nearly unstoppable at the moment.

While the best of the best continue to show out, the rookie class is also making a name for itself. Paolo Banchero and Bennedict Mathurin have established themselves as the top first-year players in the early going while others are also performing at a high level.

To make further sense of it all, Rookie Wire took a look at the NBA and ranked each team from worst to first. We come back each week and provide our latest assessment of the best teams and those that are rising.

PHOTOS: Best images from the Thunder’s 145-135 win over the Knicks

Here are the best photos from the Thunder’s 145-135 win over the Knicks on Sunday.

The Oklahoma City Thunder stepped up on the brightest stage at Madison Square Garden on Sunday afternoon with a 145-135 win over the New York Knicks.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey led the way for the Thunder in one of the greatest offensive performances in franchise history. Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 37 points while Giddey collected a 24-point triple-double — the first of his season.

Lu Dort also added 24 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Fellow starters Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Aleksej Pokusevski scored 17 points and 12 points, respectively.

Let’s take a look at the best photos of the Thunder’s win over the Knicks.

Thunder vs. Celtics: Prediction, point spread, odds, best bet

Our prediction and best bet for Monday’s Thunder-Celtics game, with odds from
@BetMGM

The Oklahoma City Thunder play the Boston Celtics on Monday, and if you’re looking to do some last-minute betting research, you’re in luck! We’ll give you the latest point spread, money line odds and over/under number, as well as the information you’ll need to make the smartest bet at BetMGM.

The game starts at 6:30 p.m. CT and can be seen on Bally Sports Oklahoma and NBA TV.

This will be a battle of winning streaks. The Thunder (6-7) are winners of two straight games due to their two best offensive performances of the season. The Celtics (10-3) are winners of six straight games.

Thunder vs. Celtics: Lineups, injury reports and broadcast info for Monday

The 6-7 Thunder travel on the road to take on the 10-3 Celtics on Monday.

The Oklahoma City Thunder play the Boston Celtics on Monday, and if you’re wondering how you can watch the action live, you’ve come to the right place.

The Thunder (6-7) are suddenly a high-octane offensive juggernaut. In their last three games, the Thunder have averaged 136.3 points on 53.8% shooting and 44.6% 3-point shooting on 37.3 attempts. Last time out, the Thunder had one of their best offensive performances in a 145-135 win over the New York Knicks on Sunday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the Celtics (10-3) are off to a great start this season and are riding a six-game winning streak. Their most recent win came against the Detroit Pistons.

NBA Twitter reacts to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 37 points, Josh Giddey’s triple-double in 145-135 win over Knicks

The Thunder had all eyes on them as SGA and Josh Giddey led the Thunder to 145 points in regulation.

If the Oklahoma City Thunder were ever going to have a performance like the one they had against the New York Knicks, the timing was perfect.

Being the only live NBA game on, backcourt duo Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey showed out on the bright stage of Madison Square Garden.

Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 37 points while Giddey collected a 24-point triple-double in a 145-135 win over the Knicks.

Despite a slate of NFL games going on, the small-market Thunder duo received plenty of buzz on Twitter with their performance. Let’s take a look at some of the best tweets from the Thunder’s win.

Player grades: A’s across the board for the Thunder in 145-135 win over Knicks

SGA & Josh Giddey headlined the Thunder’s 145-135 win on this NFL Sunday.

Who said 11 a.m. CT tips on NFL Sundays can’t be fun?

Following their best offensive performance in a blowout win against the Toronto Raptors, the Oklahoma City Thunder one-upped themselves with one of the best offensive outings in franchise history on arguably the biggest stage in the league against the New York Knicks in a 145-135 win.

The 145 points are the most points scored by the Thunder in a game in nearly five years — a Jan. 2018 148-124 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Two separate 43-point quarters certainly helped reach that mark. Overall, the Thunder shot 55-of-88 (62.5 percent) from the field and went 17-of-31 (54.8 percent) from three on 31 team assists.

Over their last eight quarters, the Thunder are suddenly playing like an offensive juggernaut after scoring like one of the worst offensive teams in the league beforehand.

Backcourt duo Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey led the way. With the lights at their brightest, both players had arguably their best games both as individuals and as a backcourt duo.

Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 37 points in 36 minutes while Giddey collected his first triple-double of the season with 24 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds.

The other three Thunder starters also finished in double-digits. Lu Dort scored 24 points on 11 shots, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl scored 17 points on nine shots and Aleksej Pokusevski scored 12 points.

The vibes right now around this Thunder squad are immaculate. Receiving national attention due to playing in Madison Square Garden and being the only NBA game on is going to put the otherwise nationally-irrelevant Thunder into the national discussion.

Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades.