Thunder caught Celtics to end 2024, but can they beat them?

The Celtics and Thunder meet on Sunday in the most intriguing regular season game in recent memory. It’s feels like the most inevitable Finals preview since the Cavaliers-Warriors years and both Jayson Tatum and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander have the most legitimate paths to the MVP award. Beyond that, Oklahoma City leads Boston by 3.5 in the standings and constructed arguably the only opposing force in the NBA that can defeat the Celtics at full strength four times.

Seeds of the Thunder’s dominance showed as early as 2023, when they poured 150 points on Boston at home in a year where they finished below .500. Chet Holmgren redshirted that season before emerging as one of the league’s best two-way…