Boston Celtics vs Oklahoma City Thunder Prediction, 3/12/2026 Preview and Pick

Game: Boston Celtics vs Oklahoma City Thunder

Date: Thursday, March 12, 2026

Location: Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, OK

TV: Prime Video

The Oklahoma City Thunder (51-15) will compete against the Boston Celtics (43-22) at Paycom Center on Thursday.

The Celtics played the Spurs and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 125-116 in their last contest. When talking about personal fouls, the Celtics ended up walking away with 18 and the Spurs recorded 19 personal fouls. They converted 20 of 47 attempts from beyond the arc. San Antonio ended up going 68.0% when shooting free throws by burying 17 of their 25 attempts. On top of that, San Antonio had 44 boards (9 offensive, 35 defensive) and got 4 rejections. San Antonio doled out 27 assists and had 3 steals for the matchup. Concerning defending, Boston allowed 51.8% from the floor on 44 of 85 shooting. They also doled out 27 assists in the game as well as forcing the other team into 12 turnovers and having 6 steals. In reference to getting rebounds, they earned 37 with 5 of them being on the offensive end. At the charity stripe, the Celtics converted 13 of 17 tries for a percentage of 76.5%. Boston walked away from the game with a 47.2% FG percentage (42 out of 89) and converted 19 of their 51 three-point shots.

Derrick White is a guy who came through for the contest. He ended up with 34 points on 11 of 22 shooting. He saw the court for 40 minutes and also grabbed 5 boards. White went 50.0% from the field and dished out 7 assists.

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Boston will take the court with a mark of 43-22 for the campaign. They have an average of 114.5 points per game (21st in the league) while connecting on 46.5% from the field. The Celtics are connecting on 36.4% on shots from distance (1,005 of 2,764) and 79.6% from the free throw line. As a team, Boston is pulling in 46.3 boards per game and has totaled 1,595 assists for the year, which is 28th in the league in terms of passing the rock. They cough up possession 12.1 times per contest and as a unit they are committing 19.2 fouls per game.

On defense, the Celtics are forcing 12.6 turnovers per game while drawing 18.3 personal fouls. They are surrendering 36.1% on 3-pointers and they are ranked 1st in the NBA in opponents points per game (107.2). The Celtics defensively are giving up a shooting percentage of 44.1% (2,483 of 5,634) and they relinquish 41.9 boards per game as a unit. They currently rank 6th in basketball in giving up assists to their opponents with 1,613 surrendered so far this season.

When they last played, the Thunder took home the win by a final score of 129-126 against the Nuggets. Concerning how they attacked the glass, Oklahoma City allowed Denver to snag 56 overall (16 on the offensive glass). They finished 40.5% from distance by going 15 of 37 and ended up shooting 21 of 29 at the free throw line (72.4%). The Thunder permitted the Nuggets to bury 45 of 98 tries from the field which gave them a rate of 45.9% for this contest. When the final whistle blew, the Thunder shot 47 for 93 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 50.5%. When it comes to shots from beyond the arc, Oklahoma City converted 19 out of 47 attempts (40.4%). They were able to bury 16 of the free throws for a percentage of 76.2%. The Nuggets were called for 20 personal fouls in the matchup which took the Thunder to the free throw line for a total of 21 tries. They also gave up possession 3 times, while getting 3 steals in the matchup. The Thunder pulled down 34 defensive boards and 3 offensive boards for a total of 37 for the game.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was important for the Thunder in this game. He converted 14 of 21 for the game for a field goal rate of 66.7%, and tallied 9 rebounds. Gilgeous-Alexander earned 35 points in his 39 mins on the court and had 15 assists in this contest.

Oklahoma City has a win-loss record of 51-15 so far this season. As an offensive unit, the Thunder are shooting 48.2% from the field, which is 4th in the NBA. Oklahoma City has totaled 7,840 points on the season (118.8 per contest) and they collect 43.8 rebounds per game. They are dishing out assists 25.5 times per game (20th in the league) and they are losing possession via turnover 12.6 times per contest. The Thunder are committing 19.2 personal fouls every game and they shoot 82.2% from the free throw line.

The Thunder on defense are ranked 2nd in the NBA in PPG surrendered with 107.9. They have forced 16.8 TO's every game and have allowed teams to shoot 43.6% from the floor (1st in the league). The Oklahoma City defense allows 36.5% from downtown (938 of 2,567) and their opponents are knocking down 74.4% of their shots from the charity stripe. They have relinquished 25.1 dimes and 45.8 rebounds per contest, ranking them 8th and 25th in the NBA.

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Boston

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