The Celtics’ 5-game winning streak and their playoff momentum were both interrupted Wednesday night, largely by MVP candidate Russell Westbrook. Despite a strong first half and a 4-point lead at halftime, Boston couldn’t stop the Oklahoma City offense and fell to the Thunder, 122-118.
Weirdly, however, even with the loss Boston took sole possession of the 8th and final playoff seed in the East. Miami won their game to move to 31-36. Indiana lost to drop to 30-37, same as Boston, but since the Celtics have the tie-breaker head-to-head versus the Pacers, Boston is now in 8th, Indy is 9th, and idle Charlotte remains a half-game back in 10th.
Westbrook, who has averaged a triple-double since the All-Star break, led the way with 36 points, 10 assists, 5 steals, and 5 rebounds (and 7 turnovers) in 40 minutes. He shot just 8-26 from the field, but made 19 of 22 free throws. Enes Kanter added 22 points and 10 rebounds, while Anthony Morrow made 4 treys on his way to 20 points.
For the Celtics, former Oklahoma State star Marcus Smart stood toe-to-toe with Westbrook in his first pro game at OKC. Smart shot 8-14, including a career-high 7 treys, for 25 points, also a career high, plus 9 rebounds and 5 assists. Brandon Bass, on 8-11 shooting, and Kelly Olynyk, 7-13, added 20 points each. Evan Turner had 10 assists and 5 steals.
Although Boston shot .524 from the floor and made 13 3-pointers, they couldn’t quite match OKC’s production – though they might have if they didn’t miss 11 free throws.
Prior to the season, Boston seemed like a sure lottery candidate and Oklahoma City looked like a legit contender. Yet, with the Celtics’ resurgence and OKC plagued by repeated injuries, they both began the night in the same situation: in a virtual tie for the last playoff spot in their respective conferences.
Oklahoma City was without Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka, while the Celtics were again missing Isaiah Thomas. This was the first meeting of Smart and Westbrook, who both were injured for OKC’s win at TD Garden on Nov. 12.
Tyler Zeller started the game like he was bound for another hot scoring night. He hit his first jumper from 18 feet and was flawless at 4-4 for the 1st quarter. Westbrook committed all 4 turnovers by the Thunder in the quarter, leading to 8 Boston points. But the Celts handed it all back, turning it over 6 times for 7 OKC points. At the horn, OKC was up 28-24. Zeller and Kanter led their squads with 8 points each.
The 2nd quarter was intense and frenetic, with several highlight reel plays by Boston. Olynyk hit 2 straight treys assisted by Jae Crowder. Jonas Jerebko added his own trey, assisted by Zeller, then the Swede returned the favor, feeding Big Z for a layup. Avery Bradley slammed home a vicious dunk on a baseline cut.
Smart nailed 4 treys on the way to 14 points in the quarter, shot 5-6, delivered a court-length outlet pass assist, and made several solid defensive plays. (KWAPT tweeted: “Smart swagger meter broken.”) Zeller added a dozen on 6-6 shooting.
For the half, Boston shot .641 from the floor and 7-12 on 3s, tallied 17 assists on 25 hoops, and had a 19-15 rebound advantage, but led just 57-53 because they committed 12 turnovers and (cue Tommy) DIDN’T SHOOT ANY FREE THROWS. Westbrook led OKC in the half with 11 points, but shot just 4-11. He also had 6 assists and 6 turnovers. Kanter scored 10 and OKC shot .523.
In the 3rd, Boston held a 70-66 lead when they hit their first dry spell. Westbrook scored 8 points to lead a 13-0 run that left the Thunder ahead by 9. The Cs replied with 6 straight on 2 hoops and an assist by Bass. OKC didn’t let up, however. Kanter muscled in 10 points in the quarter. The relentless Westbrook put up 15 points in the quarter on a variety of 3s, you-can’t-stop-me drives, and 8-10 FTs. The Thunder scored 40 in the frame and closed it with a 9-1 run to lead 93-81.
Things looked bleak when OKC scored the first 4 points of the 4th quarter and led 97-81. The Celts got to the line more and cut the lead to 9 with 4 minutes left using a small lineup. That hurt when the Thunder’s Steven Adams (14 points, 13 boards) simply reached above everyone for an offensive rebound leading to a Morrow 3. After Olynyk split 2 FTs, Smart made his 6th trey to bring Boston within 108-100 with 2:55 remaining. After an OKC backcourt violation, Olynyk hit his 3rd trey and the margin was down to 5.
Celts were back down 10 with 56 seconds remaining and went to the foul game. OKC made 8 straight from the line to hold off Boston, despite 3-pointers by Bradley, Smart and Bass.
The Green:
- Early first quarter, Turner stole a Westbrook pass and went coast-to-coast for a shocking reverse jam.
- Smart received nice applause when he was introduced, but the crowd didn’t like his soaring rejection of a Dion Waiters fast break layup.
- No fear: Smart saved a possession by ripping an offensive rebound away from two bigger Thunder players.
- In the closing seconds, Brad Stevens set up the “Jeff Green in the corner at Miami” play for Bass and Brandon drained the 3.
The Gross:
- Zeller allowed Kanter to sneak in for a putback after a missed Thunder free throw. Also, after making his first 6 shots, Zeller was scoreless.
- Early 2nd, OKC came out of a timeout with 6 men on the floor, but the officials did NOT call a technical, instead just waved it off.
- Jerebko’s 3 at the halftime buzzer didn’t count. Too late.
- After not going to the line for the first 29 minutes, Boston then missed 5 of 10 FTs in the 3rd quarter.
- Smart picked up his 3rd and 4th fouls less than a minute apart in the 3rd quarter on two iffy calls.
- Gigi Datome disappeared with just 3 scoreless minutes.
- Phil Pressey provided nothing as the backup point guard, shooting 0-6 (5 of them from deep), 1 assist and 3 turnovers in 13 minutes.
The Greenlights:
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The Grid:
- Free throws: OKC 33-39, Boston 17-28 (all in the 2nd half). Thunder went to the line 18 times in the 3rd quarter.
- Celtics shot just 6 of 22 on 3-pointers in the 2nd half.
- Points in the paint: OKC, 56, Boston, 48
- Turnovers: OKC, 17 (30 points), Boston 20 (26 points)
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