Who's Playing
Boston Celtics @ Oklahoma City Thunder
Current Records: Boston 26-9, Oklahoma City 29-5
How To Watch
- When: Sunday, January 5, 2025 at 3:30 p.m. ET
- Where: Paycom Center -- Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
- TV: NBATV
- Follow: CBS Sports App
- Online streaming: fuboTV (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
- Ticket Cost: $55.00
What to Know
The Boston Celtics' road trip will continue as they head out to face the Oklahoma City Thunder at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday at Paycom Center. The Celtics are strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 119.3 points per game this season.
The Celtics will head into Friday's contest hoping to keep the good times rolling: they only won by three when they last took the court, which might have inspired the 23-point they dealt the Rockets on Friday. The Celtics blew past the Rockets 109-86. Boston has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 11 matches by 19 points or more this season.
Meanwhile, the Thunder entered their tilt with the Knicks on Friday with eight consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with nine. They rang in the new year with a 117-107 victory over New York. Oklahoma City was down 66-52 with 0:32 left in the second quarter but they still came back for the handy ten-point win.
The Thunder's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who earned 33 points along with seven assists. Gilgeous-Alexander's evening made it four games in a row in which he has scored at least 30 points. Another player making a difference was Aaron Wiggins, who went 7 for 9 en route to 19 points plus five rebounds and two blocks.
Boston is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 26-9 record this season. As for Oklahoma City, their win was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 29-5.
While fans of the two teams were happy after their last outing, their bettors probably weren't as neither team covered. Looking ahead, the Thunder are expected to win a tight contest, barring any buzzer beaters. This contest will be their 27th straight as the favorites (so far over this stretch they are 17-9 against the spread).
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: The Celtics haven't given up the ball easily this season, having only averaged 11.4 turnovers per game (they're ranked second in turnovers per game overall). However, it's not like the Thunder (currently ranked first) struggle in that department as they've been averaging only 11.1. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Odds
Oklahoma City is a slight 2-point favorite against Boston, according to the latest NBA odds.
The oddsmakers were right in line with the betting community on this one, as the game opened as a 2-point spread, and stayed right there.
The over/under is 221.5 points.
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Series History
Boston has won 6 out of their last 10 games against Oklahoma City.
- Apr 03, 2024 - Boston 135 vs. Oklahoma City 100
- Jan 02, 2024 - Oklahoma City 127 vs. Boston 123
- Jan 03, 2023 - Oklahoma City 150 vs. Boston 117
- Nov 14, 2022 - Boston 126 vs. Oklahoma City 122
- Mar 21, 2022 - Boston 132 vs. Oklahoma City 123
- Nov 20, 2021 - Boston 111 vs. Oklahoma City 105
- Apr 27, 2021 - Oklahoma City 119 vs. Boston 115
- Mar 27, 2021 - Boston 111 vs. Oklahoma City 94
- Mar 08, 2020 - Oklahoma City 105 vs. Boston 104
- Feb 09, 2020 - Boston 112 vs. Oklahoma City 111
