Thursday night will be must-see TV for NBA fans around the world. A potential NBA Finals Preview between two of the league’s best as the Oklahoma City Thunder (51-15) plays host to the Boston Celtics (43-22).
The Oklahoma City Thunder put their six-game winning streak on the line against the Celtics, who are 7-3 over their last ten games. Each side misses big pieces tonight, with the Thunder being down All-NBA swingman Jalen Williams and starting center Isaiah Hartenstein, while the Celtics are without Jayson Tatum and tabbed Derrick White as questionable heading into this game before downgrading him to inactive before tip-off.
Before tip-off, the two sides had to rework their starting lineups, given their missing pieces in this game. The Thunder are used to being short-handed, but the Celtics are a different test entirely. It will be interesting to see if head coach Mark Daigneault wants to go small or attempt to supersize his lineup with Jaylin Williams in the first five alongside as he has been red hot recently. Or if they opted to downsize against Boston.
30 minutes before tip-off the starting lineups were announced for both sides.
OKC Thunder vs. Boston Celtics Starting Lineup
OKC Thunder Starting Lineup:
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, G
- Cason Wallace, G
- Ajay Mitchell, G
- Lu Dort, F
- Chet Holmgren, C
Boston Celtics Starting Lineup:
- Payton Pritchard, G
- Baylor Scheierman, G
- Jaylen Brown, F
- Sam Hauser, F
- Neemias Queta, C
The Oklahoma City Thunder have opted to give more time to Ajay Mitchell, who has been an X Factor for this team, in the starting lineup. The Thunder have put him in the starting lineup, which will help take the pressure off Gilgeous-Alexander from the Boston Celtics harrassing defense. This puts another scoring punch on the court and can spread the Celtics’ defense thin.
Oklahoma City is attempting to put together another impressive win while Gilgeous-Alexander hopes to extend his 20 point game streak to a record setting 127 straight games, surpassing Wilt Chamberlain in the process, who the Thunder superstar is currently tied with for the top spot in this category. The OKC Thunder superstar stamped his case for his second straight NBA MVP award and can add to that resume with another big game against another title contender.
The Thunder are hoping to finish this home stand strong tonight and it concludes on Sunday afternoon as Oklahoma City plays host to the Minnesota Timberwolves in yet another Nationally Televised contest.