Thunder prove once again they're a serious threat to Celtics' bid to repeat
The Oklahoma City Thunder came into TD Garden on Wednesday night and made it crystal clear they'll be a legitimate threat to the Boston Celtics bid to repeat as NBA champs should the two teams have the pleasure of meeting in the NBA Finals. The Thunder out-toughed and outplayed the Celtics on just about every level in their 118-112 victory in Boston, completing a sweep of their regular-season series.
The Cleveland Cavaliers own a slightly better record than the Thunder, but OKC proved it's the most well-rounded team in the NBA this season. They are very much a force to be reckoned with this summer.
The Celtics became the latest team to have no answer for MVP-favorite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who brushed off the defensive focus from Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, and any Celtic who came to help and dropped 34 points for the Thunder in the victory. He relentlessly punished the rim with a dozen of his points coming in the paint, plus another 10 points from the free-throw line.
Brown and Derrick White both fouled out in the fourth quarter trying to keep Gilgeous-Alexander at bay. But he wasn't the only member of the Thunder to power their way to the basket throughout the contest.
Thunder out-toughed the Celtics
Oklahoma City outscored Boston, 44-36, in the paint as the Thunder consistently muscled their way to the hoop. They made it look relatively easy despite a fairly solid defensive effort from the Celtics.
OKC big men Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein and guard Cason Wallace all scored eight points in the paint, as the trio accounted for 48 points overall on the night. The Thunder owned the glass in the first half and outrebounded the Celtics, 25-16, to build an early lead.
But it was a three-point game at halftime thanks to Boston's three-point shooting, which was the only reason the Celtics kept it close and found themselves in a back-and-forth contest for most of the second half. But with the Thunder consistently attacking the Boston defense, the Celtics were completely worn down by the fourth quarter and Oklahoma City took full control in the closing minutes.
That relentless attack also led to a massive discrepancy at the free-throw line, where the Thunder outshot the Celtics, 35-12. But that was a product of their physicality and not a whistle-happy officiating crew.
Brown wouldn't channel his inner-Heinsohn and blame the officiating after the loss. Instead, he put it on his shoulders to do a better job asserting himself and answered such physicality.
"I give credit to OKC. Tougher team sets the rules," said Brown. "They had a good level of physicality tonight. I could be more physical. I could use my body more. I settled in some spots."
Brown didn't get to the line at all on Wednesday, and said he did not "meet the level of physicality" the Thunder brought to the game.
Thunder took away the 3-ball from the Celtics
It's not shock that the Celtics relied on their three-point shooting against the Thunder. That has been -- and always will be -- the case under head coach Joe Mazzulla.
But the Celtics took a lot of threes Wednesday night. Their 63 attempts from downtown set a new franchise record, and Boston set an NBA record with 36 three-point attempts in the first half.
The three-ball kept the Celtics in the game in the first half, but that threat dried up over the final 24 minutes. Boston shot an ugly 18.6 percent from three (5-of-27) in the second half. The Celtics still got some great looks from deep against the NBA's best defense, but they stopped falling and the game got away late.
"Bet a few guys wish they could have some shots back that they would normally make," Tatum said after the loss. "And sometimes it's as simple as that. It's a make-or-miss league. But we have all the confidence in the world in those guys taking the right shots."
The Celtics were a little too overzealous trying to win the math battle with their three-ball Wednesday night. Their run late in the third quarter came on four shots around the hoop to just one three, turning an 84-75 hole into an 88-88 game heading into the fourth.
But that run came with Holmgren on the bench, and the big man made sure the Celtics didn't get easy looks the rest of the way. Boston went back to relying on the three with 14 attempts in the fourth, and with only three of those shots falling, the Celtics had little chance to keep pace with an aggressive Thunder squad.
What does loss to Thunder say about the Celtics?
Make no mistake, the Celtics are still one of the best teams in the NBA. No one will be surprised if they represent the East when the NBA Finals arrive this summer.
But if they run into Oklahoma City in their quest for Banner 19, brace yourself for an absolute rock fight of a series. We've now seen the Thunder get the best of the Celtics twice this season, and they controlled both games down the stretch. In both matchups, the Thunder's physicality negated Boston's three-point attack.
"I thought we got amazing looks," Mazzulla said after the loss. "I mean, that's just the shell of their defense. They protect the paint first. They fight. They try to get out. I thought our two-on-one reads were really good. I thought we generated relatively great looks throughout most of the game."
Oklahoma City's cutting on offense stymied the Boston defense throughout, and it was hard not to think about the difference Kristaps Porzingis would have made for the Celtics. He would have been a huge presence in the paint defensively, and he would have pulled one of OKC's bigs to the perimeter on offense. He likely would have opened things up for the Celtics on both ends.
But the big man missed his seventh straight game with a viral illness, and the Celtics couldn't overcome his absence. While Al Horford was a monster with 18 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists, the Celtics needed more from everyone else not named Tatum (33 points, eight rebounds, eight assists) and White (22 points, three blocks, two steals) on Wednesday night.
Brown had his hands full defensively, but only hit five of his 15 attempts (and missed all five of his threes) for 10 points. Holiday was 4-of-10 and hit just one of his three-point bids for nine points. Off the bench, Payton Prichard and Sam Hauser were a combined 3-of-13 from deep.
Gilgeous-Alexander likely clinched his MVP on Wednesday, as the Thunder proved once again they are a legit contender. They are even better than last year's team that won 57 games but got bounced by the Mavericks in the second-round of the playoff.
The Celtics are right there with the title favorites, but Wednesday was another reminder this year's postseason run will be a lot more difficult than last year's trek to a championship.
