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The thunder swept Boston in the season series. Your next meeting would be in the NBA final

By Jimmy Golen AP athlete

Boston (AP) – The Oklahoma City Thunder has won a place in the playoffs, and they made it to the team with which they were exposed to when the NBA season reached its climax.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 and Chet Holmgren added 23 points and 15 rebounds in a eagerly awaited potential NBA final matchup on Wednesday evening to lead the thunder to a 118-112 victory over Boston.

“We are in March, not in June,” said Thunder coach Mark Daignult after the thunder won the two games against the defending champions against the defending champion. “So we focus on March.”

The thunder also beat the Celtics in Oklahoma City in a game on January 5, which Holmgren missed with an injury.

If you meet again this season, it should be in the NBA final.

“You have achieved what we want to achieve and there is no better test than that in the NBA,” said Gilgeous-Alexander. “Playing against them is always fun, it's always a really good challenge and something we could test against. I think we have passed the test so far. “

The thunder was the second NBA team that won a playoff place this season. Cleveland, a better victory, earned its place on Friday. Last year the thunder won a place in the post -season on March 31.

“It means that we got better than last year. Ultimately, that's all you can ask for, ”said Gilgeous-Alexander. “You inserted the work, made the time in the right direction. We got better and we checked a goal of the list a bit earlier than last year and we have a lot more to do. “

The Celtics, who drove their 3-point shootout to an unprecedented 18th NBA championship last season, set up a franchise record with 63 3-point attempts on Wednesday. It tied the most for an NBA team in a regulatory game.

“Every game is a test,” said Daigneult, whose team was performing against 2023 NBA champion Denver. “We cannot choose the opponent, but if you play against increased teams such as these games – especially on the street – it is a real opportunity to improve. And so we take these games seriously.

“We want to see what we have. We want to see what we can learn. We won tonight; We can learn from it. We lost the other night; We can learn from it, ”he said. “But yes, we have to push out the entire juice out of all these games we can.”

Jayson Tatum scored 33 points for Boston, including a 3-point game at the end of the third quarter, in which the remains of a 12-point advancement wiped out and the game 88-all connected. From there, the Celtics went 3 for 14 from the 3-point area, while Gilgeous-Alexander and Cason Wallace scored eight points each in the fourth quarter.

“Obviously there is always juice to the game that the defending champion plays. I think that would say that, ”said Holmgren. “But at the end of the day it is one of 82nd win or lose, we will try to learn from getting the next game back and try to get better.”

The Associated Press contributed to this article