Boston Celtics vs. Thunder preview (Game 67 of 82)

Posted on March 12, 2026 by Alex Roig

Boston Celtics (43-22, 2nd in the East) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (51-15, 1st in the West)
When: Thursday, 12 March 2026 at 8:30pm CST
Where: Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, OK
TV: Prime Video / FDSN-OK
Offensive Rating: BOS: 119.8 (2nd) / OKC: 117.0 (7th)
Defensive Rating: BOS: 111.8 (5th) / OKC: 106.2 (1st)
Net Rating: BOS: 7.9 (2nd) / OKC: 10.8 (1st)
Current Streaks: BOS: Lost their last game, 9-3 in their last 12 / OKC: Winners of 6 in a row, 9-1 in their last 10

The Tip-Off

There was a point around early February, where the Thunder were struggling with injuries and struggling with winning consistently. Many basketball prognosticators pointed to this particular point in the season when the Thunder would start to lose their grip on their #1 status in both the conference and the league. San Antonio and Detroit both nipping at their tail and a murderer’s row of opponents (New York (in NYC), Denver, Boston, and Minnesota) lied ahead. The post All-Star break schedule was the one that was going to break the Thunder. What has happened since the All-Star break? A 9-1 record with the only loss being to the Detroit Pistons on a night where the Thunder were missing their top 6 players (SGA, Chet, Dub, Hartenstein, Ajay, and Caruso). This team is getting healthier and gaining some momentum at the right time in the season.

This is the first of two meetings this season between these two conference powerhouses. OKC swept the season series last season. These two teams were the favorites to meet in the Finals last season, but the injury to Jayson Tatum was too much for Boston as they lost in the 2nd round of the playoffs to the New York Knicks.

Betting Info, presented by FanDuel

Line: OKC -6.5
O/U: 215.5

Injury Report

OKC

Branden Carlson – OUT (back)
Isaiah Hartenstein – OUT (calf contusion)
Thomas Sorber – OFS (knee/ACL)
Jalen Williams – OUT (hamstring)

BOS

Payton Pritchard – Probable (neck spasms)
Jayson Tatum – Questionable (Achilles recovery management)
Nikola Vucevic – OUT (finger)
Derrick White – Questionable (knee contusion)

Three Big Things

Pace – Boston is the “slowest” team in the league, ranking dead last in Pace and Fast Break Points per game. But, with that, comes the ability to protect the ball, which they do to the utmost, ranking first in turnovers, committing just 12.1 turnovers per game. This will be where OKC has to win the game. Forcing turnovers and getting out in transition would get Boston out of their element and turn the game in OKC’s favor.
Perimeter Defense – Boston is the most “jump-shootiest” of jump-shooting teams there is in the league. They rank 1st in 3-point attempts per game, last in free-throw attempts per game (usually an indicator of a jump-shooting team), and 28th in Points in the Paint per game. They rank 6th in percentage of points from the mid-range and 3rd in percentage of points from the 3-point line. This may change a bit with the return of Jayson Tatum, but even with Tatum in the lineup, the Celtics were normally known as a team at the top or near the top of 3-point attempts. To a team like OKC, which likes to play it’s defense inside-out, if Boston is hitting their shots consistently, it could make for a long night.
127 – Anytime you tie a record set by Wilt Chamberlain, you’re in rarefied air. Anytime you have the chance to break a record set by Chamberlain, you’re on a whole ‘nother level. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finds himself on the precipice of breaking the consecutive “20-points scored” games record. It’ll be interesting to see how Boston handles this. Are they going to throw the kitchen sink at SGA in order to try and avoid this milestone happening on their watch. Or will Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla just stick to his normal game plan and let the chips fall as they may.

Indiana Pacers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder Series Preview – NBA Finals

Posted on June 5, 2025 by Alex Roig

Schedule

Game 1 – June 5th, 2025 @ 7:30pm CST at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, OK
Game 2 – June 8th, 2025 @ 7:00pm CST at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, OK
Game 3 – June 11th, 2025 @ 7:30pm CST at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, IN
Game 4 – June 13th, 2025 @ 7:30pm CST at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, IN
*Game 5 – June 16th, 2025 @ 7:30pm CST at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, OK
*Game 6 – June 19th, 2025 @ 7:30pm CST at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, IN
*Game 7 – June 22nd, 2025 @ 7:00pm CST at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, OK* – * * – If necessary

Quick Stats (Playoffs)

Offensive Rating – IND: 117.7 (2nd) / OKC: 115.9 (3rd)
Defensive Rating – IND: 113.6 (9th) / OKC: 104.7 (1st)
Net Rating – IND: 4.1 (4th) / OKC: 11.2 (2nd)

The Set-Up

Let’s be honest: if you marked this Finals match-up down in October 2024, then your phone number probably either starts with a 405 area code or a 317 area code. I’m sure a lot of people will tell you that an NBA Finals without LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Jayson Tatum, Nikola Jokic, or Steph Curry will be bad for the league. I’m sure they’ll wax poetic about superteams and dynasties of yore. They may even try to convince that these Finals will be the least watched finals ever. But don’t listen to them.

Every crop of superstars has to eventually meet it’s end. That LeBron and Curry have pushed their reigns out so far has been nothing short of impressive. Kudos to them for showing a new crop of stars how to take care of their bodies and push the bounds of longevity. But one era has to finish for another one to begin. And that is what these Finals may be representing. One, not necessarily built by superteams, but by team depth. One, not necessarily focused on the heliocentricity of one player, but on the ability to have five players on the court be 5-tool players. One, where the most important guy in the organization may not be the league MVP, but the league’s Executive of the Year.

Teams are being built differently now, and this may be the first view of how the NBA will look like under the new CBA. And there will be moans and groans about how great things were in the past. But, yet, somehow, someway, the league continues to grow. The social media hits continue to climb. The game crosses more and more boundaries as it continues to battle futbol (no, not football) as a truly global game. Soccer remains king throughout the world, but basketball continues to lie in wait as the prince that was promised. As the NBA landscape changes, these two teams, the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder, are the teams that will usher basketball into this new era. You may be watching the next great dynasty unfold before your eyes.

Regular Season Series

Game 1 – Dec. 26th, 2024 – Thunder win 120-114 in Indianapolis, IN – SGA scores a then career-high 45 points as Lu Dort and the Thunder defense holds Tyrese Haliburton to 4 points on 6 FG attempts. Isaiah Hartenstein pitched in with an 11 point, 13 rebound double-double and Jalen Williams added in 20 points.

Game 2 – Mar. 29th, 2024 – Thunder win 132-111 in Oklahoma City, OK – OKC outscores the Pacers by 20 points combined in the 2nd and 3rd quarters and uses that cushion to cruise to victory. SGA scores 33 points and get big time contributions from Luguentz Dort (22 points on 6/7 shooting from deep) and Isaiah Joe (19 points on 5/7 shooting from deep).

Three Big Things

1. Twins? – These two teams are definitely not identical twins. But they could be classified as fraternal twins with how similar they are. Here are just a few stats that show how similar these two teams are: After January 1st, 2025, the Pacers (33) and Thunder (41) had the most wins in the league during that time. They both have a 12-4 record in the playoffs heading into the Finals. They are No. 2 and 3 in points per game in the playoffs, being separated by only 0.3 of a point. They are No. 1 and 2 in pace in the playoffs. They are 1 and 2 in points off turnovers. They are No. 1 and 3 in fastbreak points. They both get back on defense, being No. 1 and 2 on both Opponent Points off Turnovers and Opponent Fastbreak Points. It’s scary how similar these teams are, statistically.

2. SGA – The biggest difference is that one team boasts the league MVP and the other doesn’t. SGA has been playing some of his best basketball these last few weeks. While he may have started off slow in the first few games of the playoffs, he has picked it up when it has mattered most, scoring 30 or more points in 11 of his last 14 games. Teams have used various schemes to try to stop SGA, but it has been all for naught. In the two regular season games this season, SGA has averaged 39 against Indiana.

3. Living in the Corner – Indiana’s offense in these playoffs has not just been predicated on Haliburton’s floor generalship, but also on the shooters making corner 3’s. Indiana has shot an amazing 46.9% on 9.2 attempts these playoffs. That is up from 40.6% during the regular season. A 16-game sample size is big enough to assume that it can continue for the Pacers in the finals. But if they revert back to their regular season norms, the Pacers could be in trouble.

Celtics vs. Thunder preview (Game 8 of 82)

Posted on November 3, 2017 by Alex Roig

vs.

When: Friday, 03 November 2017 at 8:30 pm CST
Where: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, OK
TV: ESPN/FSOK
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM, 930 AM (Spanish))
Line: OKC -6.5 | O/U – 205.5

Seven games in and the Oklahoma City Thunder are still looking for that statement victory. They beat the Knicks, Pacers, and Bulls pretty handily, like they were supposed to. And for as good as Giannis Antetokounmpo has been, the Bucks are still an inconsistent, middle of the conference team in the East. The three games against sturdier competition have resulted in losses.

So the Thunder still find themselves in search of that one signature win. As they continue figuring out the puzzle pieces that is their revamped team, the pendulum seems to be swinging towards the direction of them getting this thing figured out. Each player now has a role of what role they play on this team. Will that change as the season progresses? Probably. But the most important part of knowing what to do, how to do it, and when to do it seems to no longer be puzzling the Thunder players. And that is a scary thought for the rest of the league. Continue reading →