3 Takeaways From OKC Thunder's Big Win Past Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics were one of the few tests — if any — remaining on the regular season calendar for the Oklahoma City Thunder, but even they weren't able to get past the No. 1 team in the Western Conference.

The Thunder gained a 118-112 win on Wednesday night, clinching the season series of the two championship favorites 2-0. Jalen Williams and Kristaps Porzingis were tough losses on both sides, but it left an even playing field for them to go at it.

Though it was a close contest for the majority of the 48 minutes, Oklahoma City was finally able to gain some separation in the fourth quarter to close out TD Garden with the upper hand.

Here are three takeaways from the six-point victory:

Winning With Free Throws...Kind Of

Though the Thunder offense didn't particularly have one of his stronger performances, getting to the charity stripe helped it get the slight edge over the Celtics.

Oklahoma City's 25-of-35 clip on free throws wasn't exactly efficient either — a very subpar number than what it is usually used to. However, those 25 made free throws completely eclipsed that of Boston, as it only finished 10-of-12 by the end of the game.

Alone in the fourth quarter that helped the Thunder climbed to victory, it received 18 free throw attempts. It wasn't simply a case of poor officiating on the opposite side, the Celtics just didn't have any interest at getting to the line.

Jayson Tatum led the way with 5-of-5 makes, while not much else can be seen down the rest of the box score. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's 10-of-11 was no surprise as the highest on the side of Oklahoma City, but only two of its nine players didn't get to the line a single time.

More Effective 3-Point Shooting

One of the only areas needed to understand how the Thunder came away with a win is looking at the 3-point output from Boston.

The Celtics shot a whopping 63 attempts from behind the arc in a single game, but could only knock down 20 of them. Nearly every player on the team shot the ball willingly all night, though Brown's 0-of-5 and Tatum's 4-of-13 did a great deal in damaging the efficiency of the offense.

Oklahoma City's 13-of-37 may have been seven fewer makes, but doing that on 26 fewer attempts made for much more effective production. It didn't rely on the 3-point shot, instead making it just a single part of its wide range of offensive attacks.

The defense of the Thunder certainly can force teams to stick with the 3-pointer depending on the matchup, especially with Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren taking up much of the space in the paint. But when you are faced with the likes of Luguentz Dort and Cason Wallace on the perimeter, it's more of a pick your poision scenario.

Holmgren Steps Up

Without the services of Williams — Oklahoma City's No. 2 scoring option — it was a prime opportunity for Holmgren to have a larger offensive role against Boston.

"He’s been taking a back seat, role wise, because he missed games," Gilgeous-Alexander said on Holmgren. "Hats off to his sacrifice. With the absence of Dub, I knew that he’d step into that role very easily.”

A big man that can move on his feet, block shots like almost no other and hit 3-pointers at a high rate is an anomaly that the Thunder is lucky to have. His aggressiveness on offense is the next step forward in developing his game, but his performance against the Celtics could signal that progressing.

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