Mark Daigneault downplays significance of Thunder's win over Celtics

01/06/2025 02:35 AM

After head coach Mark Daigneault and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the champion Boston Celtics 105-92, they extended their winning streak to a whopping 15 straight. The Thunder held the Celtics to 27 second-half points, humbling the NBA champs while erasing a 13-point deficit. Still, Daigneault reminded reporters it was one of 82 regular-season games.

Regardless of how it looked, the Thunder head coach essentially reminded reporters a win’s a win.

“It’s one of 82, like I told you before the game. Every game’s a different challenge. We’re all running our own race. We happen to be bumping against them,” Daignealut said. “We’ll go our separate ways. So will they… the reason we’re in the position we are right now is because we’ve improved, and we’ve had our heads down and been very present in competition, and if we want to continue to improve, that’s what we have to continue to do.”

Mark Daigneault and the Thunder extended their historic winning streak to 15 straight. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 33 points led five Thunder players in double figures, including Aaron Wiggins (15 points), Lu Dort (14 points), Cason Wallace (13 points), and Jalen Williams (10 points). Gilgeous-Alexander also finished with 11 rebounds, six assists, three steals, and two blocks, while Williams chipped in six rebounds, five assists, and one steal.

After the Celtics went 1-for-13 from deep in the third quarter, finishing with only 15 points before being held to a dozen in the final frame, the Thunder capitalized on a 28-10 before keeping Boston at bay in the final stretch. Jayson Tatum scored a team-high 26 points and finished with 10 rebounds. Jaylen Brown scored 21 points, but it all came in the first half before he went scoreless in the second, and Kristaps Porzingis added 19 points and nine rebounds.

Thunder makes two roster moves after humbling champion Celtics

Shortly after beating the Boston Celtics, the Thunder assigned Ousmane Dieng and Dillon Jones to the G League’s Oklahoma City Blue. The Thunder wasted no time assigning their prospects shortly after their win against the Celtics. Ahead of a four-game road, following their perfect 5-0 homestand, Oklahoma City assigned the 26th overall pick back to the Blue along with its 2022 11th overall pick, per Thunder Wire’s Clemente Almanza.

“The Oklahoma City Thunder has assigned forwards Ousmane Dieng and Dillon Jones to the Oklahoma City Blue of the NBA G League,” Almanza reported.

The Thunder’s four-game trip starts against the Cavs, who they trail by 1.0 game for the best record in the NBA.

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