Changing Of The Guard? Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook And The Thunder Drop Celtics To 4-8

The Oklahoma City Thunder continued their winning ways on Monday night, dropping the Boston Celtics on the road 97-88. The Thunder (12-2) now own the NBA's best record in the early going after winning their 7th straight contest in Boston's TD Garden. OKC came into the game on a roll, becoming the first team to win 3 games in 3 straight nights and 5 games in 6 days during the NBA's truncated 66 game season post-lockout prior to the game in Boston.

Monday marked the return of Thunder C Kendrick Perkins to Boston for the first time since the former Celtic was traded in the middle of last season. Perkins way a key member of the Celtics during their NBA Championship run in 2008 and has been sorely missed since the deadline-deal last year that sent him to the Thunder in return for F Jeff Green (who unfortunately will miss all of this season after having surgery to repair an aortic aneurysm in December).

Oklahoma City is looking to take the next step this year and now looked poised to make a Title run. OKC's stars were on display against the Celtics as SF Kevin Durant dropped 28 points to go along with 7 rebounds while PG Russell Westbrook added 26 points of his own. Third-year PF Serge Ibaka had 4 blocks in the first half and helped set the tone down low for the Thunder in the early going. To their credit the Celtics mounted a stiff resistance, never allowing Oklahoma City to run away with it and got the score to within 3 at 83-80 with 2:25 remaining in the 4th Quarter. However Westbrook and emerging SG Thabo Sefolosha each drained a pair of 3-pointers during the final two minutes to stymie any Boston comeback attempt.

This game featured two games that are going different directions this year. The Thunder reached the Western Conference Finals last year and are looking to build upon that success with an appearance in the NBA Finals. The Celtics look like the aging group that faltered in last season's playoffs and have stumbled out of the gate this year having lost their last 5 games. Boston's "Big 3" of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen won an NBA title in 2007-08 and again reached the Finals in 2009-10 however their poor start in 2012 may mark the end of this group's run. There is still time for the Celtics to get back in the mix and compete at the highest level but they will be handicapped an arduous schedule where teams will have much less rest than would be afforded them during a regular 82-game season.