Thunder buzzsaw through Boston for 15th straight

OKC 105 BOS 92

The buzzsaw comes for everyone. Whether it's a one dimensional offense for a tanking team or a balanced fleet of shooters and ball movers on the defending champs, the Thunder's (30-5) defensive teeth are sharp and fast enough to cut down any lead over 48 minutes of play.

The Celtics (26-10) played a familiar foil in dramatic fashion, giving the Thunder some trouble through the first half before crumbling under the pressure of OKC's defense in the second. Boston scored 27 points in the entire second half, watching their 65-55 lead become sawdust as everyone defended and Shai (31 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 stocks) steadied the offense. Another standout game from everyone's favorite trade piece Aaron Wiggins (15 points on 6-9 shooting) and three Lu Dort threes down the stretch boosted the scoring margin to double digits and offered a reminder of what's at stake for a team already comfortably up 7.5 games up on the rest of the West: overall home court advantage.

OKC's frenetic playstyle travels well, but the only thing that has interrupted Thunder dominance last playoffs and this regular season has been shooting from their role players. Working toward securing that home crowd edge, without Chet Holmgren (Alex Caruso missed this one, too), is a lot to ask for, but it's not too lofty of a goal. More wins like this in Loud City, please.

Where they will play the league's best is still to be determined, but whether they can beat them– all of them--is no longer a serious question. 15 straight and counting.

Next up: OKC gets an immediate shot at the only team in front of them in league-wide seeding, heading to Cleveland on Wednesday for another mega showdown of title hopefuls.