The Boston Celtics entered Paycom Center on Thursday night with the chance to make a statement against the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder. And while the Celtics came up short, as a potential game-winner from point guard Payton Pritchard literally fell short at the buzzer, they exited Oklahoma with their heads held high.

“I thought it was a phenomenal basketball game,” Pritchard said following the narrow 104-102 loss, per NBC Sports Boston. “That's what you get when you get two great teams playing against each other.”

Although the Celtics were without star forward Jayson Tatum and guard Derrick White, they led the Thunder by as many as 12 points, which was enough for the biggest lead of the game. But, Boston couldn't slow down Thunder guard and MVP hopeful Shai Gilgeous-Alexander when it mattered. The reigning NBA Finals MVP scored 14 points in the fourth quarter alone and swished a jumper to give the Thunder a 102-100 lead with 30 seconds remaining.

Celtics star Jaylen Brown — who had a team-high 34 points — responded with a jumper of his own, yet Thunder center Chet Holmgren broke the tie at the charity stripe with just one second left, knocking down both free throws to put the Thunder up 104-102.

With less than a second to go, Pritchard threw up a 3-point attempt from over 30 feet away. The shot was on line, but the ball only grazed the front of the net before going out of bounds as the final buzzer sounded.

“We're just getting better and better,” Pritchard stated in the locker room. “We're not going to look at this as a failure.”

Pritchard finished with 14 points off the bench, including one buzzer-beating triple just prior to halftime that inspired some hope on the reigning Sixth Man of the Year's final shot attempt. He obviously didn't enjoy the Celtics dropping back-to-back games for the first time in more than two months, yet he understood how the Green Team impressed despite the defeat.

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“We went toe-to-toe with them at their place,” he said. “Hard-fought game, we're going to improve from it. There's probably about 10 possessions we could've got a little bit better at. I know I had a couple of possessions I wish I could have back, a couple shots I could have back. You just grow from it, learn, and get better.”

While Tatum and White sat for the C's, big man Isaiah Hartenstein and 2025 All-Star Jalen Williams were sidelined for the Thunder. Gilgeous-Alexander more than made up for their absences, recording a game-high 35 points in 39 minutes while shooting a blistering 72.2% from the field.

Boston didn't get lost in SGA's dazzling performance, though. The Celtics had help from largely unheralded guys like Hugo Gonzalez, Ron Harper Jr., and Jordan Walsh to stay afloat.

“They come ready to play and play winning basketball,” Pritchard said of the production Boston got from its young bench. “So it’s nothing new…It’s what they do.”

The Celtics will head back to Boston with a 43-23 record, keeping them in second place in the Eastern Conference. After tough duels with the talented San Antonio Spurs and Thunder, the Celtics should be able to ease into things on Saturday night when they host the 16-49 Washington Wizards.