BOSTON — Jaylen Brown seemingly showed mercy for the first time all night.
After posterizing Jaylin Williams with a vicious one-handed slam, Boston’s star guard stuck his right thumb out and held it up to his throat. He then began to slowly slide it to the side only to stop halfway.
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But Brown didn’t actually want to spare OKC. He just didn’t want to spare the change, since the NBA fined him $25,000 the last time he did his throat-slashing celebration against Detroit in December 2024.
“I stopped it, though,” Brown pointed out with a smile after the game. “That’s the most important thing right there, the detail. I didn’t do it. The people know what it is.”
Everyone definitely knew what it was. It didn’t take the full celebration for Brown to deliver his message.
The Celtics are coming for the Thunder’s neck. That much was clear in their 119-109 home win over the reigning champions, who entered Wednesday on a 12-game winning streak.
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Boston showed no fear against the team that many people believed to be head and shoulders above the competition to start this season. It instead showed some championship pedigree of its own, having won in 2024. And it showed it’s poised to compete for another title this postseason.
“This is a big-time win for us,” said Brown, who finished with 31 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. “Obviously OKC is the hottest team in the league, but we wanted to come out and show that we can play against anybody.”
Real estate is valuable in Boston. There’s only so much space in one of the nation’s most densely-populated cities, and the same can be said for TD Garden.
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There’s no room in the rafters for banners that celebrate division titles or even conference championships. Those get Twitter threads, not real ones. There’s only room to celebrate NBA championships, of which the Celtics have a league-leading 18.
That’s how high the standard is for Boston, and it refused to lower it this season despite massive setbacks. Despite the departure of Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford and Luke Kornet this past summer. Despite the absence of superstar forward Jayson Tatum, who missed the first 62 games due to a torn Achilles.
The Celtics (48-24) refused to sell their spot amongst the NBA’s top contenders. It’s simply too valuable.
“I think it’s one of the premier organizations in the league to play against,” Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. “They bring it every night, no matter who’s out there. They have a culture. They check all of the boxes, and that’s why they’ve been successful for the past years. It’s a game that you see where you really are, and they test you. We got tested tonight, and we didn’t pass it.”
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BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – MARCH 25: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander #2 of the Oklahoma City Thunder reacts after being fouled during the second half against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden on March 25, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. The Celtics defeat the Thunder 119-109.
That test was made more difficult by the fact that it wasn’t multiple choice. Boston took away options from OKC on both ends of the floor.
The Celtics took away scoring opportunities from Gilgeous-Alexander when he drove the ball. Every time he broke down his primary defender, the rest of the defense collapsed. That resulted in double-teams and sometimes triple-teams.
Gilgeous-Alexander entered Wednesday with an average of 18.6 drives per game, which led to an average of 8.8 shot attempts. He drove the ball 21 times against Boston, and yet he only got four shot attempts out of that.
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Gilgeous-Alexander still handled the pressure well. He scored his 33 points on 10-for-12 shooting from the field and recorded eight assists with just two turnovers. But the Celtics were content with being at the mercy of the Thunder’s supporting cast of shooters, who only went 9 for 33 from deep (27.3%).
Boston also took away easy opportunities for OKC to score in transition. The Celtics scored 119 points on 47% shooting from the field (44%), forcing the Thunder to inbound rather than rebound and run. And it took care of the basketball.
Boston entered Wednesday with the fewest average turnovers per game (12.3), and it only committed 13 against an OKC defense that’s known to feast off of miscues.
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Mar 25, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) and forward Jayson Tatum (0) congratulate each other in the final seconds of the fourth quarter of their win over the Oklahoma City Thunder at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-Imagn Images
“That’s what makes them good and that’s what makes these games fun,” Thunder forward Jalen Williams said of Boston’s execution. “That’s how you separate yourself from good to great teams, and that’s a great team. I think a lot of them have won a ring, so they’re not going to really beat themselves. They may miss shots and do other things.
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“But they’re going to go out with a game plan every night, they’re going to execute and it’s just about who can execute the most throughout the game on a consistent basis.”
OKC and Boston are similar in that sense.
As much as both teams have strengths, there’s power in restraint. The ability to stay disciplined throughout the chaos of an NBA season can’t be understated.
It’s the key to winning when short-handed due to injuries. It’s the key to winning when shots don’t fall. And it’s the key to winning in big-time matchups, which is exactly what Wednesday’s game was.
It was a battle between two teams that could end up being neck and neck in the race for a championship this postseason.
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Justin Martinez covers the Thunder and NBA for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Justin? He can be reached at jmartinez@oklahoman.com or on X/Twitter at @Justintohoops. Sign up for the Thunder Sports Minute newsletter to access more NBA coverage. Support Justin’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Jaylen Brown, Celtics delivered a ‘big-time’ statement in win vs. Thunder