Celtics at Thunder
While Boston has thrust itself into the heart of the Eastern Conference playoff race, Oklahoma City is trying to hang on in the West. The surging Celtics carry a season-high five-game winning streak into a Wednesday night matchup at the Thunder, who are starting a four-game homestand and hoping for good news on the injury front. Oklahoma City forward Serge Ibaka is likely out for the rest of the regular season following right knee surgery, while reigning MVP Kevin Durant is nearing a return.
Durant, who has been out since Feb. 19 with lingering foot issues, has been practicing and a report in The Oklahoman suggested there is an outside chance he returns Wednesday, but the team is being cautious. Without Durant and Ibaka, the Thunder fell 119-115 in Dallas on Monday and entered Tuesday leading New Orleans by a half-game for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West. Boston's run, which includes a 108-89 rout of Philadelphia at home on Monday, is its longest in two years and has Brad Stevens' crew tied with Miami and Indiana in the battle for the last two spots in the East.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, CSN New England (Boston), FSN Oklahoma
ABOUT THE CELTICS (30-36): The fact that the Celtics are in the midst of a playoff race after a slow decline from the Big Three era and a 57-loss campaign last season is one thing, but the manner in which they are making their charge is notable. They are 4-0 without guard Isaiah Thomas - who will miss his fifth straight game Tuesday - after going 2-1 on a road trip without Avery Bradley, one of two players along with Tyler Zeller to reach the 20-point mark in the win over Philadelphia. "It's not easy to play without basically your two leading scorers, not even including [injured forward Jared] Sullinger in that," Stevens told reporters Monday. "So it's been good, and the next man stepped up."
ABOUT THE THUNDER (37-30): While Russell Westbrook, who had 24 points and 12 assists in the loss to Dallas, gets the bulk of the attention with Durant out and Enes Kanter (four double-doubles in his last five games) has been on a roll since being traded from Utah last month, Anthony Morrow is again providing much-needed offensive punch off the bench. He is averaging 15.8 points while shooting 55.6 percent from beyond the arc over a four-game stretch in double digits, which matches his longest such stretch this season. The Celtics should be prepared to get after Morrow, who scored a season-high 28 points while shooting 11-of-16 in a 109-94 victory at Boston on Nov. 12.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Celtics C Kelly Olynyk is 1-of-12 from the floor with a total of three points over his last two games.
2. Westbrook has significantly better numbers across the board at home compared to on the road, including field-goal percentage (45.1 to 41.9), 3-point percentage (34.1 to 26.4), free-throw percentage (87.6 to 80.8), rebounds (8.1 to 6.5) and assists (9.2 to 7.7).
3. Zeller is averaging 22 points on 76 percent shooting in his last two games.