By William Armstead –
The Boston Celtics defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder by a score of 119 to 109 on Wednesday in TD Garden arena. The Celtics have now tied the season series with the Thunder one to one after losing to them by two points back on March 12. They have now snapped the Thunder’s 12-game win streak.
As a team, the Celtics shot an efficient 44% from three point range. Jaylen Brown flirted with a triple double, scoring 31 points, grabbing eight rebounds, and dishing out eight assists. Brown’s 14 of his 31 points came in a crucial third quarter, where the Celtics took a five point lead heading into the fourth. Jayson Tatum had yet another double double, with 19 points and 12 rebounds. The Celtics had balanced scoring efficiency, with four of the five starters in double figures as well as strong bench production from Payton Pritchard, who knocked down four shots from beyond the arc. They are inching closer to the Pistons for the one seed in the East and could very well achieve it considering Cade Cunningham’s injury.
For the Thunder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander only missed two shots and had 33 points, which was still not enough to earn the win. The second leading scorer was Luguentz Dort with 14 points. The Thunder only shot 32% from three and also got outrebounded 43 to 35. With this loss, the Thunder are now only two games ahead of the Spurs for the one seed in the West.
The Thunder will host the Chicago Bulls on Friday and the Celtics will be at home taking on a tough Atlanta Hawks squad.