The Boston Celtics cruised past the hapless Washington Wizards on Thursday, 102-122, climbing to 2-0 in their title defense campaign after dominating the New York Knicks on opening night 132-109. However, these two impressive double-digit wins still weren’t enough to convince Charles Barkley on Inside the NBA to make a prediction for the Celtics’ repeat as NBA champions. Instead, he predicted another team to win the Larry O’Brien trophy this year: the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“I don’t think they’re going [just] to the Finals, I think they’re going to win the World Championship,” Sir Charles said during the show via ClutchPoints on X, formerly Twitter.
Can the Celtics repeat?
While Charles Barkley’s prediction says the Thunder will be the new NBA champions this season, he still hedged his bets for the Celtics by refusing to make his patented guarantee.
Likewise, Barkley’s guarantees don’t quite pan out most of the time, so there’s a little wiggle room in his prediction. However, the Thunder might have as good a claim as any to dethrone the Celtics, heavy title favorites entering this season.
The Thunder disposed of the Denver Nuggets 102-87 in their season opener, partly due to the Nuggets’ dismal shooting, finishing with splits of 35.4% from the field and 17.9% from three.
However, the Thunder also shot poorly from three-point land, going only 8-36 for a marginally better 22.2%.
What helped decide the game for the Thunder was solid production from the bench, with Aaron Wiggins scoring 15 points on 7-9 shooting and new addition Alex Caruso giving great defense and hustle despite scoring zero points.
On the other hand, the Nuggets’ new addition Russell Westbrook scored only six points on 2-10 shooting. Moreover, the Thunder outscored the Nuggets by 24 points while Westbrook was on the floor.
While one game is a tiny sample size, it does give fans an idea about why Barkley picked the Thunder to win it all this year. The Thunder upgraded their roster on the margins while many other Western Conference contenders lost key pieces.
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Outlook
For instance, Denver lost Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to the Magic in free agency, robbing them of a long two-way presence at the guard position, a need neither Westbrook nor Christian Braun might fill as capably.
Meanwhile, the Timberwolves traded Karl-Anthony Towns just before the season, robbing Anthony Edwards of a partner on the perimeter, though he might take another leap as the lone superstar on the team.
One of the few teams that has the Thunder’s number is the Lakers, mainly because they couldn’t quite handle their physicality and size. Likewise, besides Caruso, their team doesn’t quite have championship experience.
As of Thursday, the Celtics hold a clear advantage over the Thunder, at least on paper, but an NBA season is long, and anything can happen between now and June.