The Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder put the Boston Celtics away on Wednesday night, beating them 118-112, powered by yet one more beautiful efficiency from MVP frontrunner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
However even with that massive win over the Celtics, Kendrick Perkins doesn’t assume they’re going to be champions this 12 months.
Talking on “First Take,” Perkins identified that the Celtics have been lacking Kristaps Porzingis, who he considers “so crucial” to the crew.
He admits that the Thunder despatched a message with their assertion win however he isn’t able to name them frontrunners for the title.
“The Boston Celtics were missing a key piece: Kristaps Porzingis.”
@KendrickPerkins says the Thunder ought to “absolutely not” be favored over the Celtics to win the title regardless of OKC’s 118-112 win in Boston
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— First Take (@FirstTake) March 13, 2025
Stephen A. Smith agreed with Perkins, however largely as a result of he feels the Thunder are nonetheless too younger to beat Boston within the Finals.
The Celtics are defending champions and so they have had numerous postseason success over the previous couple of years.
The Thunder, however, are nonetheless comparatively unproven within the playoffs.
Perkins believes a Finals matchup would look very completely different, particularly if Porzingis is wholesome.
However that’s an enormous “if” as a result of he has had a collection of harm points during the last a number of seasons, together with throughout final 12 months’s playoff run.
The Thunder’s victory was attributable to extra than simply the absence of Porzingis.
A number of gamers did nice issues for OKC, together with Chet Holmgren who seemed like an important second possibility together with his 23 factors and 15 rebounds.
Plus, the Thunder have been in a position to restrict Jaylen Brown, who had a missing efficiency with 10 factors.
The Thunder did loads to earn their win on Wednesday and their followers assume it is a testomony to their championship potential.
It doesn’t matter what Perkins, Smith, or anybody else says, OKC followers consider this could possibly be their 12 months.
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