Oklahoma City Thunder vs Boston Celtics Prediction: Young Thunder take on veteran Celts

Soon the NBA scenario will hit the midseason window and it will be another tricky phase where we can see a bunch of trades as teams look to either retool or find that one missing piece to complete a deep run. Therefore, some established players may be moved too but the trade rumors are yet to gain the steam that will give us a clear picture. Anyway, before all of that, the Oklahoma City Thunder will host the Boston Celtics

The Thunder comes into the game after a heavy 96:115 loss against the Philadelphia 76ers as even their prime option Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was shut down. This was their second straight loss and third in four games. They have had a better season than last season but their Play-in tournament chances are still outside considering they have lost 21 and won 15 games. The Thunder need to be much better at home where they are just one game above the 50% win mark.

The biggest shortcoming for the team has been that the majority of offensive momentum is solely upon high-scoring Guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Outside of him, there isn’t a scorer who can put up even 20 on a consistent basis whereas inside scoring has been a problem. The Thunder’s offense has improved but their defense has fallen quite a bit and their inability to pin down rebounds has caused them big problems. So, it will be upto Josh Giddey to step up his game.

The Celtics enter the game after losing 111:123 against the Denver Nuggets despite a 30 points performance by Jayson Tatum. This loss curbed a four-game winning streak for the Celts. The Celtics started the season with the best record by far, winning 21 and losing just five but fatigue has caught up since then and the team has lost six and won five since then, still making for an incredible 26 and losing 11. This run has followed the team’s appearance in Finals last season.

It is not surprising considering the team has Jayson Tatum who is averaging around 30 points and Jaylen Brown averaging around 27. Malcolm Brogdon, Marcus Smart, and Derrick White are averaging around 10 points a game but the defensive end isn’t like last season when the squad has the best defense in the majority of the metrics. The East is deep again and with the way the Nets, the 76ers, the Bucks, and the Cavs are performing, the Celtics will need to rely more upon their defense, something which they have sacrificed for a newly employed scoring style which is three-point heavy.

• Thunder: OUT: Chet Holmgren, Ousmane Dieng, Jeremiah Earl-Robinson, Aleksej Pokusevski;
• Celtics: OUT: Danilo Gallinari. QUESTIONABLE: Robert Williams III.

• Expected Leading Scorers: Jayson Tatum(32-38 Points), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander(29-35 Points), Jaylen Brown(26-32 Points);
• Expected Leading Rebounders: Josh Giddey(9-11 Rebounds), Jayson Tatum(8-10 Rebounds);
• Expected Leading Playmakers: Marcus Smart(8-10 Assists), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander(5-8 Assists).

The Celtics aren’t as threatening as they were till the first week of December but their experience and depth are always going to be difficult to tackle. The Thunder has been a fighting squad and most of their games have been close but their lack of depth is why they have even suffered at home. This can be a death sentence against a team like the Celtics. That’s why I expect the Celtics to bag a win. I predict a scorleine of 124:117 in the favor of Boston.