For 24 minutes of basketball on Thursday night in Oklahoma City, it was almost easy to forget the Thunder entered with an 0-3 record. After moving Jerami Grant into the starting lineup in place of Patrick Patterson prior to tip-off, OKC charged out to a commanding first half lead — fully utilizing an atrocious start for the Celtics, who shot 32 percent from the floor, 0-of-11 from deep, and hit just 54 percent of their free throw attempts in the first two quarters.
Led by Paul George’s 13 points, the Thunder held a 50-34 lead at the break.