NBA Finals Preview? Celtics-Thunder Duel Created Legit Discussion

The Boston Celtics have undergone an abundance of noteworthy matchups, but perhaps none nearly as intriguing as Tuesday night’s road loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Boston entered as the best team in the Eastern Conference and Oklahoma City as the second-best in the West. Both the Celtics and Thunder rank among the NBA’s top-six teams in terms of offensive rating, and are led by presumed candidates for the league’s Coach of the Year Award in Joe Mazzulla and Mark Daigneault.

All things considered, it’s easy to chalk Boston and Oklahoma City as a potential NBA Finals preview, right? Well, the first Celtics-Thunder meeting of the 2023-24 season made doing just that much easier.

Granted, there have been a handful of teams that have given the Celtics a run for their money like the Orlando Magic, Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks (twice), and even the Toronto Raptors. Yet, none have proven to be as legitimate to be worth penciling in as finals contenders as the Thunder have.

Boston’s 127-123 loss to Oklahoma City, which ended its six-game winning streak, proved just that.

“I thought it was two great teams,” Mazzulla said postgame, per CLNS Media video. “The game went about how I thought it would go as far as it coming down to the last couple possessions. It was a great game for us.”

From start to finish, the Thunder were the much more efficient offensive unit and maintained that being just that throughout the better part of four quarters. Oklahoma City recorded 34 assists and 48 made field goals on an impressive 52.7%, doing more than enough to make up for committing 22 fouls to Boston’s 15.

In the fourth quarter, the Celtics turned a deficit that grew to 18 points into a single-digit Thunder lead, flipping a possible blowout into a nail-bitter. Boston made nearly every clutch shot needed to remain within striking distance, but failed to match that clutch delivery on the other side of the floor, falling flat in getting timely shots to keep Oklahoma City off the scoreboard.

Derrick White nailed a critical 3-pointer, cutting the deficit to two points with 41 seconds left in regulation. Kristaps Porzingis drained a near-3-pointer, again, putting the Celtics within tow points with 3.1 seconds left. Both heroic, but overshadowed by a lack of defensive urgency to identify that the best player on the floor in Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored a game-high 36 points, picked up four fouls with 4:21 left in the fourth quarter. Why not attack that? Why not pressure Oklahoma City’s No. 1 option, thus threaten its lead even more?

It’s still early, but more prevalent in the West than the East, the conference is up for grabs and the Thunder have done their part in campaigning to be viewed as true contenders. Beating the NBA-best Celtics helps amplify that.

“I think our effort was there. Even when they made that run, we kept fighting it and then we made our runs in the fourth (quarter) and came back in the game,” Porzingis told reporters, per NBC Sports Boston. “That’s a talented, young team. I don’t believe this was some fluke game for them. They’ve been playing really well. They’re (in the) top of the West. Really good team to go up against and really good experience for us.”

Boston’s been pushed to the limit by the Timberwolves and Thunder, both very young and very hungry squads to not be taken lightly — losing in both instances. Although, the East — so far — has been all Celtics, winning the conference is just part of the journey toward Banner 18.