Thunder outlast Celtics in a possible Finals preview

Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 in OKC's 118-112 win, contributing 10 points and two assists as the Thunder pulled away in the final eight minutes. As that was happening, the Celtics missed seven straight threes, part of a 20-for-63 three-point shooting night.

Boston took 63 of their 94 shots behind the arc, meaning more than two-thirds of its shots were threes. Relying on jump shots was a big reason that the Thunder, who took 26 fewer three-pointers than the Celtics, shot 23 more free throws and scored 15 more points from the foul line.

The Celtics lead the league in three-pointers made, but shooting them at such an extreme volume is a high-risk, high-reward strategy. Against teams with tough perimeter defenders like Lu Dort, Cason Wallace and SGA, those three-point attempts can be tougher — and the Thunder didn't even have All-Defensive guard Alex Caruso Wednesday.

But the biggest factor down the stretch was that Boston, with two All-Defensive guards of its own in Derrick White and Jrue Holiday, simply could not stop Gilgeous-Alexander.

Wednesday's game was very similar to the two teams' previous meeting Jan. 5. That game was tied until the seven-minute mark of the fourth quarter, at which point SGA started dominating (five points, two assists) and the Celtics stopped scoring. Boston shot even worse from three-point range in the first game, making only nine of its 46 attempts from deep.

The Finals are months away, and both teams have a long road ahead of them. But if the Celtics end up facing the Thunder, they'll have to find an answer for their three-point woes, and they'll definitely have to find an answer for SGA.