Three Takeaways from the OKC Thunder's Massive Victory Over Boston
The Oklahoma City Thunder continue to be one of the hottest teams in the NBA, extending their win streak to five and winning 12 of their last 15 contests.
After taking down the Boston Celtics, who have the best record in the NBA, on Tuesday, the national media has started to raise its expectation of OKC from what was already a mostly optimistic perspective.
With wins over the Nuggets, Timberwolves and Celtics in their last five outings, the Thunder are proving that their success to start the season is no fluke.
Here are three takeaways from Oklahoma City's win over Boston.
OKC's youth won't hold them back
One of the main concerns surrounding Mark Daigneault's team from national media members prior to the NBA season was the Thunder's youth.
While this same aspect made people excited for Oklahoma City's future, it was one of the main reasons analysts didn't predict the Thunder to be a serious threat in the playoffs this season.
Often, young teams are exciting, but need to experience playoff basketball before they can truly contend to be one of the best teams in the conference.
While this iteration of OKC's roster has yet to prove that they can replicate this level of play in a seven-game series, the team's youth has not prevented them from earning important victories over some of the league's most battle-tested teams.
With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander being the only major contributor on the Thunder's roster with playoff experience, he and the rest of Oklahoma City's young core will have to prove that they can compete in a playoff series when the time comes.
The Thunder don't need to make a trade at the deadline
Currently sitting just one game out of first place in the Western Conference, OKC has looked like one of the best teams in the NBA with the roster it has now.
Not only do the players' skill sets fit well together, but every member of the team seems to accept and understand their role. Additionally, Oklahoma City has plenty of depth and skill to compete with the league's top squads.
So far this season, OKC has two wins over the Nuggets in Denver and wins over the Lakers, Mavericks, Warriors, Clippers, Timberwolves, Knicks, Cavaliers, Suns and Celtics.
The Thunder are averaging 121.5 points per game, good enough for fourth in the NBA.
While the team has had success this season, Oklahoma City's front office likely wants to see where the team struggles the most in the playoffs before waiting to address the team's needs.
This would also give the front office a bigger sample size with the current roster and allow them more time to make any player personnel decisions Presti and company may be considering.
Loud City living up to its moniker once again
After a few years of low attendance numbers due to the Thunder's rebuilding years, OKC's success and the promise of a new arena has citizens of the Modern Frontier excited to get back to the Paycom Center.
Against the Celtics on Tuesday night, the Thunder's home crowd reminded the organization that Oklahoma City will have an advantage on its home court when the playoffs arrive.
Not only was Tuesday evening's contest a sellout at the Paycom Center, the home crowd was loud and engaged, cheering wildly during the biggest moments of the game.
Now that the Thunder are serious contenders again and will likely host at least two postseason games this spring, the Oklahoma City crowd has returned to what it was during the days of Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant when OKC reached 350 consecutive sellouts.
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