Boston reach 60-win regular season with victory vs. Thunder to clinch NBA’s best record

The Celtics keep proving themselves as the most consistent team in the league, as well as the true-title contenders for this year’s championship. This past Wednesday night, they beat OKC by 35 points to secure the best record in the NBA and their home-court advantage throughout the upcoming playoffs. 

One of their biggest assets, is the fact that their entire team play for each other, as each one of their stars gets a chance to shine. This time around it was Kristaps Porzingis who led his team with 27 points, 12 rebounds and 5 blocks against the Thunder. Boston now clinched their 14th 60-win campaign, leading the NBA historically.

“We deserve it. I think it’s possibly going to matter if we follow through with the vision we have for ourselves,” Porzingis said once the game was over, noting that once the postseason starts they must continue their team philosophy.

60 and counting ☘️ pic.twitter.com/E6qAMKCGXN

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 4, 2024

Jayson Tatum also dropped 24 points and Jaylen Brown’s 23 and 7 rebounds contributed to a Massachusetts team that only trailed during the game for a total of 62 seconds.

Coach Joe Mazzulla promised that his squad won’t take this milestone for granted, but it also isn’t something he wants to dwell on, or be obsessed with. “It’s very hard to do. We may never be in this position again,” said the Celtics tactician. “We talked about it as a team.

“We talked about it before the game, to try to treat this game as the clincher. To kind of put that on ourselves to be able to do that. I think it was important for us to simulate that. … We should enjoy it tonight, and when wake up tomorrow — nobody cares.”

Boston was already leading the game by as many as 16 during the first half, until Oklahoma City cut it to six points in the third. Josh Giddey led his squad with 17 points, while Luguentz Dort added 15. However, their team ended with 14 turnovers and were ineffective beyond the arc with just 5-of-24.

Boston star Jaylen Brown is well aware that once the playoffs start, “it’s back to square one”

None of the Celtics players want to obsess over the fact that they’ve earned the best record in the league, especially after what happened last campaign, when they were first after regular season but then lost to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. However, Jaylen Brown still hailed the 60-win achievement.

“It’s an honor, it’s a blessing to be on a 60-win team. It’s a lot of hard work that went into that, especially after coming up short last season, responding, coming back and not skipping any steps. I think we’re on track, 60 wins, but when the playoffs start, it’s back to square one,” he assured.

The point guard was listed as questionable heading into the match with a sprained left hand, but he said it got examined after his team’s victory at Charlotte on Monday. “I think it’s fine. It’s something I’m not concerned with moving forward,” he said. “But it bothered me a little bit tonight.”

The Thunder competed last night without their leading scorer Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is top 3 in the race for MVP this season. The player sat for the fourth time in five games after he bruised his right quadriceps.