On March 13, 2025, Beijing time, the NBA regular season ushered in a key battle, and the Oklahoma City Thunder, the leader of the Western Conference, challenged the Boston Celtics, who won last season's championship and ranked second in the East.

In the end, the Thunder narrowly won with a score of 118-112, completing the "double kill" against the Green Army this season and ending the opponent's five-game winning streak. The win also allowed the Thunder to further cement their position as No. 1 in the West with a 54-12 record and secure a playoff spot ahead of schedule.

The stars of both sides launched a fierce attack. The Thunder's Alexander chipped in 34 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists, not only officially breaking the 10,000-point mark of the Thunder's career, but also scoring 20+ points in 60 consecutive games, setting a new active record, and leading the team to seal the victory with key defense and scoring in the final quarter. The Celtics' Tatum had 33 points, eight rebounds and eight assists in the air.

The race was full of ups and downs. In the first quarter, Celtics Derrick White was on fire, scoring 10 points on 3-of-4 three-pointers in a single quarter, leading the team to a 12-4 offensive run. The Thunder relied on Alexander's unsolved breakthrough to bite the score, and at the end of the first quarter, Holmgren blocked Tatum and Brown in a row, and the Thunder dominated the 33-30 rebound.

In the second quarter, Tatum turned on the scoring mode and scored 12 points in a single quarter to lead the team to overtake for a while. But Thunder bench Carlson Wallace hit two three-pointers in a row, and Holmgren hit a strong inside shot, and the Thunder held the lead 63-60 at halftime.

In the third quarter, Alexander and Tatum launched a "heads-up mode", and the score fell into a stalemate. At the end of the third quarter, the two sides fought to a tie of 88.

The final battle became the turning point of the game. The Thunder offered a suffocation defense, Dort locked up Brown, and Holmgren blocked back-to-back inside. The Celtics missed all 7 shots from beyond the three-point line, and Tatum's key three-pointer was jammed out of the frame by Alexander. The Thunder relied on Wallace's steal and fast break and Alexander's throw to seal the win with a 10-2 surge.

1 minute and 12 seconds before the end, Holmgren blocked Tatum's layup, completely extinguishing the Green Army's hopes of a comeback.

It is worth noting that the Celtics shot only 20 of 63 three-pointers in the game, shooting only 31.7%, and the interior scoring was crushed by the Thunder with 28-52, and the strategy of over-relying on outside firepower became a failure. And the Thunder's "inner and outer duo" Alexander and Holmgren have matured together, and the team has shown strong squad depth and championship heritage.

Looking back on last year, although the Thunder won the first place in the West in the regular season, they lost in the semifinals and were ridiculed as a "regular season team" by the outside world. Now, they have punched back with two victories.

This game is also regarded as a "Finals preview" by senior sports reporters in the United States, and the Thunder's road to the championship is more and more worth looking forward to.