Celtics at Thunder
Two of the hottest teams in their respective conferences meet Sunday in an intriguing matinee as the Oklahoma City Thunder host the Boston Celtics. The Thunder have won four in a row and nine of 10 after Friday's 108-101 victory over the Detroit Pistons in their first game since standing pat at the trade deadline.
"It's always uncertainty because it's a whole ordeal now with the deadline," guard Chris Paul told reporters after scoring 22 points to lead Oklahoma City. "It shows. It's a frenzy. It's good to know that we're going to keep playing together." The Celtics also did nothing at the deadline and then went out and picked up a sixth straight win Friday against Atlanta. Streaking All-Star Jayson Tatum scored 32 points while making a career-high seven 3-pointers as Boston improved to 22-5 at home.
TIME: 3:30 p.m. ET. TV: NBA TV, NBCS Boston, FS Oklahoma
ABOUT THE CELTICS (36-15): Ten of Boston's next 14 games are against winning teams, including two matchups with the Thunder, two against Houston, two against Utah, single games against both Los Angeles squads and visits to Indiana and Milwaukee, a stretch that will require some solid play in tight games. "That's something as a team we're still learning and we're still getting better at," guard Marcus Smart told reporters after his team let the Hawks erase most of a 16-point deficit in the fourth quarter. "We've got to play to the final buzzer. That's what's gonna make us a great team. We still have a lot to learn." All-Star Kemba Walker returned from a three-game layoff to rest a sore knee and scored 15 points against Atlanta.
ABOUT THE THUNDER (32-20): Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 21 points and Danilo Gallinari - rumored to be on the trading block until the deadline passed - added 19 in Friday's win. Two others scored at least 16 points and Oklahoma City shot over 50 percent from the field for the fifth time during its 9-1 stretch. "It's us," Paul added. "Once the deadline passes, I don't care what they said - this, that was going to happen. We're going to make a run at this thing, and we've got our group."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Celtics SG Jaylen Brown (ankle) and SF Gordon Hayward (foot) both sat out Friday's win and are day-to-day.
2. Thunder PG Dennis Schroder scored 18 points Friday after eight straight games of 21 or more.
3. Boston took both meetings last season by single digits and has won four in a row overall.