OKC Thunder Preview: Back Home to Face Surging Celtics

Early Rumblings is your ultimate OKC Thunder preview for tonight’s game. After a fourth-quarter collapse against the Mavericks on Monday, the air’s been let out of the balloon, with many questioning if the Thunder have what it takes to make the postseason. That’s overstating it quite a bit, but there are concerns – health and consistency among them – and not much time to fix what’s wrong. Can they respond with a big win against a Celtics team that is on a roll?

Boston Celtics (30-36) @ Oklahoma City Thunder (37-30)

7:00 p.m. CST – Wednesday, March 18, 2015 – Chesapeake Energy Arena

Broadcast on FoxSports

STARTING LINEUP: OKC	STARTING LINEUP: BOS
Russell Westbrook	G	Marcus Smart	G
Andre Roberson	G	Avery Bradley	G
Kyle Singler	F	Evan Turner	F
Steven Adams*	F	Brandon Bass	F
Enes Kanter	C	Tyler Zeller	C

Key Reserves

OKC Thunder: Dion Waiters, D.J. Augustin, Anthony Morrow, Nick Collison, Mitch McGary

Boston Celtics: Jonas Jerebko, Luigi Datome, Jae Crowder, Kelly Olynyk, Phil Pressey

Storm Alert – What to Look For in Today’s Game

Daily Reminder: The Oklahoma City Thunder really must win, the Oklahoma City Thunder really must win, the Oklahoma City Thunder really must…

Biggest story: It’s a matchup of two teams fighting for a the eighth spot of their respective conferences; OKC in the West and Boston in the East. But while the Thunder are dealing with the loss of Serge Ibaka for the regular season, the Celtics are on an impressive five-game winning streak. There’s two contrasting mind frames at work here…Oklahoma City must figure out if the latest bad news will break them or if they’ll use it as motivation until Kevin Durant and, hopefully, Ibaka return. The Celtics are young and untested but have nothing to legitimately play for. They’ve exceeded expectations and could very well crumble under the pressure. Or they could play relaxed and stay determined to make the playoffs. Either way, this is a much-more exciting game than I would have previously thought.

Best matchup: It’s a game of chicken between OKC’s Scott Brooks and Boston’s Brad Stevens, with both head coaches fielding lineups by force and not by design. With injuries affecting who’s available, Brooks has used a big lineup for the past two games using Kanter/Adams/Waiters in the frontcourt; Stevens uses a three-guard lineup with Smart/Bradley/Turner. Who will waver first? Logic dictates that the Celtics can get OKC into early foul trouble by taking advantage of their speed and quickness; conversely, the Thunder could do the same by powering their way inside. It’s a wash at this point but early calls could likely decide the outcome of the game.

Why you should watch: The injuries have taken a toll physically but there’s also an emotional toll, on both the players and their fans. But, at the risk of sounding clicha, now is when the team needs the most support. They’ll obviously have loyal fans in the stands but there needs to be a changing mindset that failing to make the playoffs means a disaster. No team – absolutely none – could have accomplished what the Thunder have done given their horrendous lineup changes and lost production from Durant, Westbrook, Ibaka, etc. Now is when you should be watching the most.

Current trend: The Celtics have won five-straight games, mostly with improved defense. They’ve kept opponents from averaging more than 90 points per game…the Thunder have won 10 straight games at home against Eastern Conference opponents, and have beat Boston in their last four meetings…Westbrook averaged 23.0 points and 4.0 assists in the first two meetings between the teams…OKC has allowed 57 points off turnovers in their last two games, including 30 in Monday’s loss at Dallas…Westbrook is averaging a league-worst 5.8 turnovers since the All-Star break and 7.6 in his last five games.

History pattern: The Celtics haven’t won six straight since a seven-game streak back in January/February 2013…OKC has won 16 of their last 18 at home…In 10 career games versus Boston, Westbrook averages just 5.3 assists per game, the lowest mark against any team. His 4.1 RPG rate against the Celtics is just his third-lowest.

"*Statistics are provided by ESPN.com or Basketball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted"

Check back with Thunderous Intentions for a full recap, post-game grades, analysis and more.

More from Thunderous Intentions

Home/Thunder News