OKLAHOMA CITY — Leaking out in transition, Jayson Tatum thought he had an easy layup. Derrick White launched a full-court pass to the darkhorse MVP candidate in what looked like a no-doubt basket. Little did he know MVP favorite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander kept up and swatted the basketball.

With the crowd still celebrating the defensive highlight, Gilgeous-Alexander threw it up to an open Isaiah Hartenstein for the alley-oop. OKC suddenly held a nine-point lead with five minutes left it didn’t surrender the rest of the way.

The defense-to-offense sequence was peak elation in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 105-92 win over the Boston Celtics. OKC embraced the challenge of welcoming the reigning NBA champions and utilized the platform to flex its defensive muscles. It’s now won 15 in a row.

“The guys did a great job tonight of playing together, working through the game together,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “It wasn’t a perfect game. I don’t think we were ourselves in the first half and then we pulled ourselves together in the second half. Again, it’s been a theme this week. Where parts of the game where we could’ve frayed, the guys relied on each other, trusted each other.”

Like the last three games, the Thunder fell behind early. This time felt a little different though. The Celtics are OKC’s peers as top-three squads. They demonstrated early on why they’ve been the league’s best team for nearly a decade and are fresh off one of their greatest seasons ever. The Thunder had a 35-32 deficit after the first quarter. That grew as the Celtics scored 30 points in the second frame. OKC entered halftime in a 65-55 deficit. The clock looked like it was about to strike midnight on OKC’s unreal run over the past month.

Through half the game, the Celtics’ scoring snipers outdueled the Thunder’s stifling defense. In a clash of styles, veteran-tested Boston had OKC’s number as it opened a double-digit lead.

That feeling grew as Kristaps Porzingis scored on a 3-pointer to push Boston’s lead to 70-59 a little over two minutes into the third quarter. Then, the Thunder went on another classic avalanche run. Boston couldn’t buy a bucket for nearly four minutes as OKC went on a 10-2 run. The Thunder scored 21 points in the frame and entered the fourth quarter with a manageable 80-76 deficit.

It only took two minutes for the Thunder to flip the scoreboard. Aaron Wiggins made a 3-pointer and Jalen Williams drew a foul and swished in both freethrow attempts. With over nine minutes left, OKC held an 81-80 lead. Game on. It was going to be another exhilarating finish.

The scoreboard moved very little the rest of the way. A matchup of two of the league’s top defenses turned this into a slugfest. After Tatum scored on a turnaround jumper, the game was tied up at 85 points apiece with seven minutes left.

That was the last time the Celtics managed to tie it up. The Thunder scored nine straight points over the next two minutes. That run was capped off with Gilgeous-Alexander’s block-to-lob sequence. OKC suddenly had a 94-85 lead with five minutes left.

A nine-point hole is easy to escape with over five minutes left in the modern NBA. But against the Thunder’s historic defense, good luck. Lu Dort made backto- back 3-pointers to push OKC’s lead to 100-88 with two minutes left. He made one more 3-pointer in the final seconds for good measure.

Just like that, the Thunder continue to prove they’re one of the best teams in the league. It was another dominant second half. They outscored the Celtics 29-12 in the fourth quarter. After Boston scored 65 points in the first half, it was held to a season-low 27 points in the second half. Read that again. Twenty. Seven. Points.

“When we’re going on those runs, it feels like we’re out there by ourselves,” Gilgeous-Alexander said on their second half. “We’re just executing the gameplan, sharing the ball offensively, being aggressive. Whether the ball is going in or not, it’s a good feeling. When those things are happening, the other team is in the back of our minds. We’re just worried about ourselves. We’re trying to get into the game. We’re executing at a high level and because of that, we’re good offensively. We’re rolling and the energy is high — especially when we’re at home.”

The Thunder shot 45% from the field and went 16-of-38 (42.1%) from 3. They shot 11-of-13 from the free-throw line. They had 22 assists on 39 baskets. Five Thunder players scored double-digit points. Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with an efficient 33 points and 11 rebounds. Williams had a near 10-point triple-double. Dort finished with 14 points. Cason Wallace contributed with 13 points. Aaron Wiggins scored 15 points off the bench.

Meanwhile, the Celtics shot 37% from the field and went 9-of-46 (19.6%) from 3. They shot 21-of-24 from the free-throw line. They had 17 assists on 31 baskets. Four Celtics players scored double-digit points.

Tatum finished with 26 points on 7-of-17 shooting and 10 rebounds. Jaylen Brown finished with 21 points on 8-of-19 shooting but with the caveat that he was scoreless in the second half. Porzingis had 19 points and nine rebounds. Derrick White had 11 points and shot 2-of-11 from 3.

What the Thunder have done this season with Chet Holmgren and Alex Caruso both out for most of it is unprecedented. At this point, new adjectives must be invented to describe OKC’s defense. It has been a winning machine that hasn’t slowed down against the league’s best teams.

“We’re all in the process of forging ourselves into an actualized team. That’s an actualized team,” Daigneault said. “That team has been the best team in the league for a couple of years. They’ve gone through playoff hardships. They got eight years of experience with their core. They’ve gone through a lot of ups and downs and had to persevere in those to forge themselves into the team they are. In the first half, they outclassed us like that. Calling it as it is. We’re in the process as a team — not just Shai, not just one guy — of forging ourselves into whatever we’re going to be. These experiences are important to us.”

Next up for the Thunder is a game against the Cavaliers at Cleveland on the 8th at 6 p.m. The game will be televised on TNT.

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