The Boston Celtics (26-9) travel to take on the Oklahoma City Thunder (29-5) at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday in what could be an NBA Finals preview.
The Celtics enter action second in the Eastern Conference, 4 1/2 games behind the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers (30-4), while the Thunder hold a seven-game cushion atop the Western Conference. Both teams have been particularly hot of late, as Boston has picked up three straight victories and Oklahoma City has rattled off 14 wins in a row.
The Celtics come into the contest with a near-full clean bill of health, as reigning NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown is the only player on the team’s injury report, as he’s listed as questionable due to a right shoulder strain. The Thunder, meanwhile, will be without star big man Chet Holmgren (hip) and guard Alex Caruso (hip), among others.
Celtics Hope to Gain All-Time Series Edge vs. Thunder
As noted by Celtics play-by-play radio announcer Sean Grande, Boston and Oklahoma City couldn’t be more even in their head-to-head battles since the Thunder franchise’s first season during the 2008-09 campaign. The Celtics hold a 79-66 lead in the all-time series against the organization (dating back to their days as the Seattle SuperSonics), but the teams have split their 32 contests since the latter relocated.
Despite having played in a combined four NBA Finals since the Thunder’s inception, Boston and Oklahoma City have never squared off for the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy.
The Celtics and Thunder first played on Nov. 5, 2008, with Boston capturing a 96-83 road win behind a game-high 20 points from Paul Pierce. Then-20-year-old Kevin Durant had a team-high 17 points for Oklahoma City, while Russell Westbrook came off the bench as a rookie.
Flash forward more than 15 years and the Celtics also took down the Thunder in the most recent head-to-head meeting on April 3, 2024, at home, 135-100. Oklahoma City had six players score in double figures, but none were able to match Boston’s trio of Kristaps Porzingis (27 points), Jayson Tatum (24) and Brown (23).
Thunder Have Had Celtics Number in January Over Last 13 Years
Grande added in his early morning note on Sunday that while the Celtics and Thunder have been equal since their first contest in 2008, January has been a different story.
“Since moving to Oklahoma City, the Thunder and Celtics have split their 32 meetings,” the voice of the Celtics wrote on X. “But they’ve met five times in January…. OKC is 5-0, with a +17.4 scoring margin.”
Oklahoma City has a narrow 14-12 lead in the head-to-heads with Boston since its January streak began in 2012 but is just 9-12 when the contests in the first month of the year are excluded.
In the middle of Doc Rivers’ penultimate season at the helm in Beantown, the Celtics fell to the Thunder, 97-88, on Jan. 16, 2012. Durant poured in a game-best 28 points and Westbrook added 26.
Oklahoma City then cruised past the Celtics in two January routs during the 2013-14 season, winning by a combined 41 points.
The squads wouldn’t take part in another January battle until 2023, when Boston had arguably its worst game of the season. The Celtics surrendered a season-high 150 points and lost by 33, the highest margin of the campaign.
The January streak nearly ended on Jan. 2, 2024, but Oklahoma City earned a 127-123 decision behind a game-best 36 points from guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
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Celtics-Thunder Series History Includes Incredible 13-Year Streak