Two of the NBA's leading sides have an opportunity to lay down their title credentials when the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Boston Celtics lock horns at the PayCom Center on Sunday evening.
The home side are in sizzling form heading into this one off the back of 14 straight victories, while the away side have recovered from a relatively rough end to 2024 by kicking off the new year with consecutive wins.
Match preview
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Despite being one of the youngest teams, the Oklahoma City Thunder put the league on alert last season by clinching the number one seed in the Western Conference, and recent evidence suggests they are on course to repeat the feat this term.
Mark Daigneault's men flew out of the blocks with seven consecutive wins before losing four of the next eight matches, but they have since picked up 18 wins from their subsequent 19 outings either side of November's NBA Cup final defeat to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Taking on arguably their hardest challenge in a long time, the Thunder saw off the threat of the New York Knicks, who were on a nine-game winning streak, courtesy of a 117-107 victory in Saturday's meeting between the sides.
Trailing by 12 points at half time, the Thunder wiped off a third of their deficit in the third quarter before putting on a show in the final 12 minutes, thanks in no small part to Aaron Wiggins's 15 points on 5-5 shooting, including 4-4 from behind the three-point arc.
Now 29-5 for the season, the Thunder have extended their lead at the top of the West heading into the first of back-to-back matches against the current top two teams in the Eastern Conference standings.
Having come out on top in each of their last nine matches on home turf, Sunday's hosts will now set out to wrap up their five-game homestretch on a high before heading to Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse to take on the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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The Boston Celtics picked up three wins on the bounce for the first time since early December as they made light work of the Houston Rockets in a 109-86 triumph at the Toyota Center on Saturday.
After making a fast start to the contest with 37 first-quarter points, Joe Mazzulla's men cooled down over the remaining 36 minutes of action but did enough to win all four quarters and claim a commanding 23-point win.
Following his rough outing against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Payton Pritchard bounced back with a solid display and was one of three Celtics players to score 20+ points alongside Derrick White (23) and Jayson Tatum (20).
While they remain in hot pursuit of the Cavaliers at the top of the East, the Celtics will also need to watch out for the Knicks just behind them, with only two wins separating the sides in second and third, 35 games into the regular season.
Going up against the best defensive team in the league this weekend, who are giving up a little over 103 points per game, Sunday's visitors will need to bring their attacking A-game if they are to avoid suffering a third consecutive defeat in Oklahoma.
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Team News
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Chet Holmgren remains ruled out for the Oklahoma City Thunder with a right iliac hip fracture, while Alex Caruso and Alex Ducas are set to miss due to hip and back injuries respectively.
Adam Flagler is currently nursing a metacarpal fracture and will be reassessed within the next couple of days to determine his availability to return to action.
Nikola Topic will not feature again this season due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament, making him a guaranteed absentee here, but Ajay Mitchell could be back in time to feature after spraining his toe last time out.
Twenty-eight-year-old Jaylen Brown has missed the Celtics' last two games with a shoulder issue, and the 28-year-old remains a huge doubt for this weekend's trip.
However, center Al Horford is expected to be back available here after the Dominican Republic international was handed a breather in the win over the Rockets.
Oklahoma City Thunder possible starting five:
Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort; Wallace, Williams; Hartenstein
Boston Celtics possible starting five:
Holiday, White; Tatum, Hauser; Porzingis
We say: Thunder to win by 5+ points
In what could potentially be the NBA finals matchup come June, we are anticipating an enthralling affair with both sides going full throttle.
That said, we are backing the Thunder to get the job done at the sound of the final buzzer.
Adepoju Marvellous
