OKLAHOMA CITY – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – OKC’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander cut off the question before it was finished.
The Oklahoma City Thunder star was asked if there was any extra motivation when the Thunder hosts Boston on Sunday.
The Thunder are riding a franchise-record 14-game winning streak, while the Celtics are the defending NBA champions.
“Absolutely,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Absolutely. They won and we’re trying to win.”
The Thunder have trailed each of the last three games by at least 12 points before coming back to win, including overcoming a 14-point deficit in Friday’s 117-107 home win over the Knicks.
The Thunder are amid a four-game stretch against the top three teams from the Eastern Conference.
Oklahoma City is 10-0 against the Eastern Conference, though it fell to Milwaukee in the NBA Cup final that doesn’t count in the regular-season standings.
After dropping four of their previous nine games, the Celtics enter Sunday’s game on a three-game winning streak.
The last two have come to start a four-game road trip.
“We had a good meeting before this trip, just a little bit like looking-in-the-mirror type of meeting and see where we can improve and what we can do better,” Boston’s Kristaps Porzingis said. “Teams are obviously coming for us and some of them are playing their best basketball against us.”
During the winning streak, the Celtics are shooting 51.6 percent from the floor and have posted a 133.6 offensive rating — points scored per 100 possessions — and a 103.3 defensive rating. Both marks are best in the NBA over that span.
“December didn’t go the way we wanted to,” Celtics star Jayson Tatum said. “We’re trying to get back to our identity of who we are on both ends of the floor.”
Oklahoma City has the NBA’s best defense, with a 102.9 defensive rating.
During the Thunder’s winning streak, Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 32.7 points, 5.2 assists, 5.2 rebounds, 2.3 steals and 1.2 blocks.
“Big challenge,” Porzingas said of facing Gilgeous-Alexander. “They have great guys that can support him also, so we can’t just focus on him alone. But we’ll see. It’ll be a fun matchup for sure.”
While Gilgeous-Alexander sets the tone and Jalen Williams is making a case for an All-Star berth, Oklahoma City has shown it can win in a variety of ways.
In Friday’s game, Aaron Wiggins scored 15 fourth-quarter points to key the comeback while Isaiah Hartenstein had a handful of critical plays at both ends down the stretch.
“We’re a very deep team, a team full of high-level basketball players, professionals, hoopers, that do whatever it takes to win,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We have so many different looks, so many different lineups, and we all just want to win at the end of the day. Nothing comes before that.”
Porzingis returned Friday after missing four games with a left ankle sprain.
Boston star Jaylen Brown has missed the last two games with a shoulder strain while Al Horford figures to return Sunday after missing Friday’s win due to rest on the second night of a back-to-back.
–Field Level Media