The Oklahoma City Thunder are for real.
Wednesday night, the young guns from the Western Conference dealt the defending champs their second loss in as many matchups between the two teams this season, and it’s time to take them seriously.
OKC is the first team who looks to be a genuine challenger to Boston in a seven-game series, led by the annoyingly relentless duo of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren. Although both teams were shorthanded – Kristaps Porzingis continues to battle an illness and Jalen Williams sustained a hip injury Sunday against the Nuggets – the Thunder maintained a physical and aggressive style of play that threw off Boston.
“You have to match the level of physicality. You have to do that,” coach Joe Mazzulla said postgame.
They dominated the paint, outscoring Boston there 44-36, and asserted themselves with a zone that flummoxed the Celtics early on. Although it was a three-point game at halftime, the Thunder outrebounded the champs 25-16 in the first half. Through a thrilling back-and-forth contest, OKC appeared to wear Boston down, getting to the free throw line for 35 shots, compared to the Celtics’ 12.
Both Gilgeous-Alexander and Jayson Tatum looked the part of MVP, but the former had considerably more support around him than the latter. Six Thunder players got into the double digits and the Celtics got and close-up look at the nightmare fuel the double-big lineup of Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein can cook up. Hartenstein in particular wasn’t afraid to push, pull, and jab at the Celtics.
“He’s a good player,” Mazzulla said. “He’s a really good player and does a great job of mucking up the game. There’s a lot of moments when we matched that and others when we didn’t, and that’s the difference of the game.”
The Thunder pushed the Celtics’ buttons like a younger sibling, as if the two teams were strapped down with seatbelts in the backseat of a car, OKC hovering a finger a half-inch away from Boston’s and singing, “I’m not touching you!” The Celtics, who have averaged 16.2 personal fouls per game this season, finished the night with 25. Even Derrick White fouled out of the game – for the first time in his NBA career. Jaylen Brown, who also fouled out, finished the game with just ten points and looked wrong all night. When he exploded through the paint for a dunk in the fourth quarter, it was a brief glimpse at the offensive strength Boston had otherwise missed.
Brown remained positive postgame, telling media he felt healthier during the night than he had in the last two weeks, and that he needs to focus on his own ability to be strong and draw fouls.
"It just was one of those games where I couldn't get anything going offensively or defensively," he said, and added, "Definitely, OKC was the tougher team."
Other teams have pushed, and even outclassed, Boston. Cleveland’s mark against the Celtics is digging themselves out of 20-point holes. The Houston Rockets had a similarly valiant win in late January, and the despite a great win Saturday, the Celtics split with the Lakers, suffering a terrible 117-96 loss two months ago. But it’s easy to look at all of those teams and say, “Sure, they got the best of the Celtics that night, but who has the edge in a seven-game series?”
It’s not the same feeling against OKC. If Boston gets back to the Finals, they may get lucky and watch the Western Conference cannibalize itself like it did in 2024. OKC, with their nonstop motor, slippery offense, and ability to get to the line, is a bad matchup for the Celtics. Could Kristaps Porzingis help on the boards, and with his rim defense? Sure, but Porzingis – with all his talent and joy – hasn’t proven his durability in the playoffs yet.
The Thunder are young and unproven, and yet, they do a lot of little things well. They’ve twice shown the Celtics they can command a game.
The Celtics may still be the better team, but they may have met their match.