Boston Celtics (43-22, second in the Eastern Conference) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (51-15, first in the Western Conference)Oklahoma City; Thursday, 9:30 p.m. EDTBOTTOM LINE: The Oklahoma City Thunder and the Boston Celtics take the court in a matchup between the NBA’s top two defenses.The Thunder have gone 27-7 at home. Oklahoma City ranks fifth in the league with 34.5 defensive rebounds per game led by Chet Holmgren averaging 7.1.The Celtics are 22-12 on the road. Boston ranks fifth in the Eastern Conference shooting 36.4% from 3-point range.The Thunder make 48.2% of their shots from the field this season, which is 4.1 percentage points higher than the Celtics have allowed to their opponents (44.1%). The Celtics average 15.5 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.3 more made shots on average than the 14.2 per game the Thunder give up.TOP PERFORMERS: Holmgren is averaging 17.3 points, nine rebounds and 1.9 blocks for the Thunder. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 15.4 points over the last 10 games.Derrick White is scoring 17.5 points per game and averaging 4.4 rebounds for the Celtics. Sam Hauser is averaging 2.6 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.Popular ReadsLAST 10 GAMES: Thunder: 9-1, averaging 113.7 points, 44.7 rebounds, 25.4 assists, 9.1 steals and 4.7 blocks per …
