With 16 games remaining, the Oklahoma City Thunder have proved almost everything they need ahead of the close of the regular season. With their statement win over the Denver Nuggets on Monday, every single team in the league should be on notice.
They've struggled through and overcome a period of devastating injuries. With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Ajay Mitchell back, their offense has found its dominant stride again. Although the timetables for Jalen Williams and Isaiah Hartenstein remain up in the air, it's likely that they will be back and ready to play by the time to postseason rolls around.
This season, Oklahoma City is seventh in the NBA in offensive rating and first in defensive rating. When it comes down to it, there is truly no squad more dangerous or more dominant than the Thunder. They've taken every single opportunity to remind the league of that fact.
But with a matchup looming tonight against the Boston Celtics (and another lingering later this month), Oklahoma City has one more task in front of them. The Celtics, plain and simple, are the only true threat they haven't dominated yet.
The Boston Celtics represent the final test for Oklahoma City's status as championship favorites
Absolutely no one expected the Celtics to be as good as they've been this season. If you say you did, you're being blatantly dishonest. But here we are, almost to mid-March, and Boston has a pretty firm grasp on the second seed in the East. Jayson Tatum has returned, and he looks about as explosive as one could possibly expect.
Since Feb. 1, the Celtics have the best defensive rating in the NBA. They've won seven of their last 10 games and 15 of their last 20. It's time to start thinking of them, perhaps, as the most dangerous team in the Eastern Conference.
They're also the only genuine contender against whom the Thunder have yet to prove themselves.
Oklahoma City's 1-4 combined record against the San Antonio Spurs and the Detroit Pistons is admittedly concerning. But, at the end of the day, it's unlikely these teams have the requisite playoff experience and cohesion to truly be a threat to the Thunder in the playoffs.
Oklahoma City is 3-0 against the Denver Nuggets this season. A series between these two teams would be tightly contested, but the Thunder have done more than enough to show they'd have the upper hand even in a full seven-game affair.
They're a combined 3-0 against the Cleveland Cavaliers and the New York Knicks, who are widely considered to be two of the only contenders in the East as of now. But they have yet to play Boston this season. They'll see them twice this month, facing off in a home matchup on March 12 and an away matchup on March 25.
Boston should have their full arsenal, apart from Nikola Vucevic, available for the March 12 matchup.
If Oklahoma City can win tonight's game in convincing fashion, they'll have no questions left to answer. They will have confidently proved their ability to dominate every single one of the NBA's contenders.