Recap: Celtics salvage season with huge victory over Thunder

So I may have reached a bit with my headline, but I needed that win.

Fueled by Paul Pierce and Jeff Green, the Celtics beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 108-100. While Pierce and Green deserve credit for strong individual performances, this truly was a team effort. The Celtics had 8 offensive rebounds. The bench cranked out 35 points. The defense came alive (specifically in the 2nd and 3rd quarters).

The Green:

Pierce had 22 of his 27 points in the 2nd half.  He was 4-of-6 from three. He was in “professional scorer” mode. Jeff Green had 17 points in 25 minutes. And we might be wallowing in tears right now if not for Jason Terry’s dagger three-pointer with 36 seconds remaining.

The Gross:

I hate to single out anyone in particular but Brandon Bass had a tough night: 3-12 FG, -9 +/-.  He did make up for the poor shooting night by grabbing a couple of key offensive rebounds late in the game.

The GreenLights:

The Grid (Quick stats):

• Boston won the battle of the benches; 35 – 13
• The Celtics had 8 offensive rebounds. I repeat, 8 offensive rebounds.
• OKC was ranked #1 in transition offense; tonight just 9 fast break points
• The Celtics made 9 of 17 3 pointers (53%)
• Rajon Rondo had 16 assists and 8 rebounds, but was a minus 9

Box score

(h/t to Terlo for the video)