Thunder sensing their West lead tightening with early taste of playoffs

BOSTON — Oklahoma City felt a tug at its heel Wednesday night.

Last season, when the Thunder sprinted to 68 regular-season wins and a 16-game lead over the Western Conference’s second-seeded Houston Rockets, the breathing room came in abundance. Clinching the top seed with weeks remaining, the first directive was to exhale.

But the West is wilder now. The extraterrestrial center in San Antonio expedited their timeline. Amid a tight race for the first seed, Oklahoma City got an early taste of the postseason this season — and what’s at stake while they attempt to coalesce late.

“Personally speaking, I like it,” reigning NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said after a 119-109 loss to the Boston Celtics on Wednesday. “Last year, I had too much time off before the playoffs, so I think I was a little bit rusty going to the playoffs. I just love to play, so I’ll get a chance to go out there and play a few more games, which would be fun.

“Last year, we were in a more fortunate situation to take rest. This year, San Antonio is close behind us, so we don’t have that, I guess you can say, luxury, but we gotta use these opportunities to grow regardless.”

If Wednesday was truly a playoff simulation, an old hindrance reared its head: shot variance. Boston met Gilgeous-Alexander’s drives with two defenders at minimum, three for safety. They veered from the corner. They lurked from the opposite wing. And for much of the night, Gilgeous-Alexander found the best possible shots, often belonging to outside shooters.

The superstar is known to make postseason deposits even earlier than this. Decisions that signify trust. The last meeting between Oklahoma City and Boston came during Gilgeous-Alexander’s week of go-ahead shots, and in a game in which he earned the right to decide things on his terms, he gave the final shot of a late, high-stakes possession to Alex Caruso.

On Wednesday, Gilgeous-Alexander continued to relay trust.

Caruso made 1 of 8 from deep, same as his last outing versus Boston. Since Feb. 27, he’s made just six of his 38 3-pointers attempted. Cason Wallace made 1 of 4 from outside the arc. Outside of Gilgeous-Alexander, who made three of his four 3s, the Thunder were 6-for-25 on above-the-break 3s. On a night Gilgeous-Alexander tallied 33 points while shooting 10 for 12 from both the field and free-throw line, Oklahoma City shot 41.2 percent outside of him.

His co-stars, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams, the latter of whom remains on a minutes restriction since returning from a hamstring strain, combined for 17 points on 16 shots.

Gilgeous-Alexander’s deposits still trickled into postgame.

“Offensively, I don’t know exactly what it is, but I probably have a big hand in it,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Making sure guys are more in rhythm and in flow out there. Guys like Dub (Williams), like Chet, I don’t feel like they had a good pop to their game today. It’s my job to make sure that those guys are flowing and in rhythm.

“No matter how good or bad my night is, that’s something I can’t waver. I think it’s more, like, just them being in more positions to be successful. Like, cater to their game. That’s the takeaway. So, I’ll probably go look and see how I can help those guys out there.”

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 33 points and eight assists Wednesday night, but it wasn’t enough against Jaylen Brown and the Boston Celtics. (Winslow Townson / Imagn Images)

The Thunder haven’t been this healthy all season. Their full rotation rests at their disposal. For an idea of the decisions that lie ahead game-to-game, as Oklahoma City attempts to untap lineup data and combinations before their title defense truly begins, look no further than Aaron Wiggins and Kenrich Williams’ “DNPs-Coach’s Decision” Wednesday.

Approaching Jalen Williams’ return to form will remain a priority. That includes working him into lineups he hasn’t spent so much time in, and drilling his connections with players he could stand to gain more rhythm with.

He’s less concerned with the seed his Thunder begin the postseason with than the version of him that arrives in high-leverage games.

“Obviously, I’m not dumb,” Williams said. “I know what the standings are, but wherever the chips fall, they fall. I think for me personally, it’s like, how much better can I get back to myself in this and how much faster can I get back to normal and feeling really confident playing out there before we have to really win games. But, it’s also a luxury.”

The Spurs spent Wednesday walloping the tanking Memphis Grizzlies, a 25-point victory that trimmed the Thunder’s lead for first place to two games. San Antonio is 13-1 since March 3.

Gilgeous-Alexander remains mindful of the playoff picture. He’s eyeing the moving pieces more than he might usually let on.

“We needed Game 7 at home against Denver,” he said when asked about the value of home-court advantage in the Thunder’s title run. “And then we needed it against Indiana to win a championship, so it’s as important as everything. Every team in the NBA that makes the playoffs knows that.”

Added Thunder coach Mark Daigneault: “You’d love to have home-court advantage in as many series as possible, but the question becomes, ‘What do you do with that?’ I’m not sure focusing on it or focusing on the standings is the way to do it.

“You have to continue to build the habits and continue to improve through the season and continue to stay aggressive about learning your team. We’d rather be playing our best basketball and be the fully formed version of ourselves at the end of the season. You look up and wherever you are on the standings at that point is where you are, and then you start playing from there.”

According to Tankathon, the Thunder own the second-most difficult remaining strength of schedule in the NBA. By comparison, San Antonio’s remaining strength of schedule ranks 20th.

In these final three weeks, Oklahoma City will play the New York Knicks and Detroit Pistons on a back-to-back and will have two more games against the third-seeded Los Angeles Lakers, at home on April 2 and then in a road game April 7 that starts a back-to-back with the LA Clippers the following day. Oklahoma City plays its final regular-season road game in Denver on April 10, then hosts the Phoenix Suns on April 12.

“We want to be in these games where winning really matters right now in order to get home-court advantage for the playoffs,” Jalen Williams said. “So, there is some of that, but it’s not like San Antonio-based. It’s more like we’re trying to see how many wins we can get, as well. That makes it fun.”

Buckle up.

“That’s why,” he said, “it’s the ‘Wild, Wild West.’”