NBA’s top defenses meet in Thunder-Celtics matchup
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Boston Celtics (43-22, second in the Eastern Conference) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (51-15, first in the Western Conference)
Oklahoma City; Thursday, 9:30 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: The Oklahoma City Thunder and the Boston Celtics take the court in a matchup between the NBA’s top two defenses.
The Thunder have gone 27-7 at home. Oklahoma City ranks fifth in the league with 34.5 defensive rebounds per game led by Chet Holmgren averaging 7.1.
The Celtics are 22-12 on the road. Boston ranks fifth in the Eastern Conference shooting 36.4% from 3-point range.
The Thunder make 48.2% of their shots from the field this season, which is 4.1 percentage points higher than the Celtics have allowed to their opponents (44.1%). The Celtics average 15.5 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.3 more made shots on average than the 14.2 per game the Thunder give up.
TOP PERFORMERS: Holmgren is averaging 17.3 points, nine rebounds and 1.9 blocks for the Thunder. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 15.4 points over the last 10 games.
Derrick White is scoring 17.5 points per game and averaging 4.4 rebounds for the Celtics. Sam Hauser is averaging 2.6 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Thunder: 9-1, averaging 113.7 points, 44.7 rebounds, 25.4 assists, 9.1 steals and 4.7 blocks per game while shooting 45.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 106.9 points per game.
Celtics: 7-3, averaging 109.6 points, 50.0 rebounds, 26.6 assists, 4.9 steals and 5.7 blocks per game while shooting 45.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 100.4 points.
INJURIES: Thunder: Alex Caruso: day to day (hip), Branden Carlson: day to day (back), Jalen Williams: day to day (hamstring), Chet Holmgren: day to day (illness), Thomas Sorber: out for season (knee), Isaiah Hartenstein: day to day (calf).
Celtics: Nikola Vucevic: out (finger), Payton Pritchard: day to day (neck).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.