The Oklahoma City Thunder starts a tough road trip on Wednesday night, featuring three games against top-6 teams in the Eastern Conference in just a 4-day span. The Thunder take on the Boston Celtics at TD Garden to kick things off as OKC looks to get back on track after suffering a 140-127 loss on Monday night.
The Celtics are 2nd in the East with a record of 47-18, and they have won 5 straight, all home games. Boston has been better on the road this season than at home, and as the postseason draws near, the Celtics are looking more and more cemented at 2-seed in the playoffs. OKC is in a similar situation in terms of firming up their seeding as they are a solid 11 games ahead of the Denver Nuggets in second place.
Regardless of postseason seeding and the implications that come along with it, these are two of the best teams in the entire league, and I wouldn’t expect anything less than a high level of competition. OKC is without Jalen Williams (strained right hip), and Boston has several key guys questionable with various injuries and illnesses, but both teams have some high-level depth, so a tight game should be expected.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 6:30 PM CT
Location: TD Garden (Boston, Massachusetts)
Television: ESPN
Radio: WWLS 98.1FM OKC The Sports Animal
Twitter: Follow @ZacharyLowNBA for live tweets and discussion during the game
Game Notes: Oklahoma City Thunder Official Game Notes, Boston Celtics Official Game Notes
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Cason Wallace
- SF: Luguentz Dort
- PF: Chet Holmgren
- C: Isaiah Hartenstein
Celtics
- PG: Jrue Holiday
- SG: Derrick White
- SF: Jaylen Brown
- PF: Jayson Tatum
- C: Al Horford
Injury Report
Thunder
- Branden Carlson (G League — two-way) is OUT.
- Alex Caruso (illness) is QUESTIONABLE.
- Alex Ducas (G League — two-way) is OUT.
- Isaiah Hartenstein (nasal fracture) is AVAILABLE.
- Dillon Jones is (G League — on assignment) is OUT.
- Ajay Mitchell (sprained right great toe) is OUT.
- Nikola Topic (left knee surgery) is OUT.
- Jalen Williams (strained right hip) is OUT.
Celtics
- Jaylen Brown (posterior impingement in right knee) is PROBABLE.
- JD Davis (G League — two-way) is out.
- Miles Norris (G League — two-way) is out.
- Drew Peterson (G League — two-way) is out.
- Kristaps Porzingis (non-covid illness) is QUESTIONABLE.
- Jayson Tatum (right knee tendinopathy) is QUESTIONABLE.
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 17-16 against the Celtics (8-9 at home, 9-7 on the road).
- The Thunder have won the season series with the Celtics 4 times, lost it 4 times, and tied 8 times.
- The Thunder went 1-1 against the Celtics last season (1-0 at home, 0-1 on the road).
- So far this season, the Thunder is 1-0 against the Celtics (1-0 at home, 0-0 on the road).
- The home team has won the last 5 times in this matchup.