Celtics break all-time NBA record in 35-point demolition of Thunder S-News

That was enough for the most 25-point wins in a single season in NBA history, according to NBC Sports Boston statistician Dick Lipe. But best of all, Boston has now locked up the No. 1 overall seed in the league for the first time since the 2007-08 season, which is when the Celtics won their last title.

Head coach Joe Mazzulla was happy to see his guys clinch homecourt throughout the upcoming postseason, however, he recognized that this is just step one of Boston’s quest to bring a championship back to Beantown, per CelticsBlog reporter Jack Simone.

“We definitely talked about it as a team. Talked about it before the game. Treat this game as the clincher,” Mazzulla said. “I think it was important for us to simulate that … I think it’s a testament to the guys. Tonight, we’ll enjoy it. Tomorrow, nobody cares.”

Although the 35-point margin of victory makes it seem like this game was over from the start, that wasn’t the case. The undermanned Thunder were without stars Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams, yet they managed to cut the Green Team’s lead down to five with 4:41 to go in the third quarter.

Boston didn’t flinch though. From that point on, the Celtics outscored their Western Conference foe 58-28. Center Kristaps Porzingis was perhaps the biggest factor in Boston’s 60th win, notching 27 points, 12 rebounds, and an insane five blocks in 30 minutes of play. Following his stellar performance, he told NBC Sports Boston court-side reporter Abby Chin how great it was to show out at TD Garden.

“This is the best place to play basketball,” he said with a huge smile on his face.

Celtics’ 2023-24 dominance

At home, the C’s are now an impressive 33-3. The energy the Celtics gain from playing there is another reason why they sit atop the Eastern Conference standings at 60-16. That win total is their highest since the 2008-09 season, and with six games remaining, they still have a chance to match the 66-16 record posted by the 2007-08 championship team.

TD Garden hospitality aside, Boston has thrived with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown at the helm. Even though they didn’t have historic nights against OKC, they were at their best down the stretch. Tatum had 13 of his 24 points in the third quarter and Brown had 15 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter.

At the end of the third quarter, Brown had five turnovers and eight points and was a lousy 4-for-14 from the field. It looked like the left hand sprain he’s been dealing with was throwing him off, yet, he came out firing in the fourth quarter and put the Thunder away. In the final 12 minutes of the contest, the 2024 All-Star connected on five of his six attempts from the floor and recorded three rebounds, two assists, one steal, and zero turnovers.

Regardless of all the regular season records and statistics, only one number is truly important for the 2023-24 C’s: 18. There have been 17 banners hanging in the TD Garden rafters since 2008, but Boston has a prime opportunity to add another with the 2024 NBA Playoffs rapidly approaching.