The Boston Celtics fell to the Oklahoma City Thunder on the road 127-123 Tuesday night despite a valiant comeback effort. The Celtics offered a convincing push late in the fourth, but it wasn’t enough to earn a victory.
Oklahoma City is one of the best teams in the Western Conference and could make some noise this spring. The club’s leading scorer, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, is a bonafide MVP candidate this season. He finished the game with 36 points, including 16 points in a big Thunder third quarter that may have decided an otherwise close game.
Here’s what you may have missed from Boston’s 127-123 loss against Oklahoma City.
Celtics Lab 234: Why Boston is probably not making big moves at the deadline with Yossi Gozlan https://t.co/9NpXe6Z7Wn pic.twitter.com/UWS6iJ9Hct
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) January 2, 2024
Boston offense
The Celtics looked decent scoring the ball. As a team, they shot 45.7% from the field and 37.3% from 3. On some nights that can be good enough to earn a victory, but it was a clunky and inconsistent scoring output for Boston.
It didn’t help that neither Jaylen Brown nor Jayson Tatum shot the ball particularly well, with each player struggling to find a steady rhythm on offense. Combined the two All-Stars had 7 turnovers, and as a team, the Celtics logged 14 giveaways. Tatum did end the game with 30 points, 13 rebounds, and 8 assists.
Likewise, Boston had 17 team offensive rebounds, which helped keep things close down the stretch. And it’s worth noting, Kristaps Porzingis had an efficient 34 points and 10 rebounds, with Derrick White turning in a nice performance as well.
In the end, though, a 40-25 third quarter Thunder advantage was what doomed Boston, as the good parts of the Celtics offense wasn’t good enough to erase the hole created by the lapses in scoring.
Wyc Grousbeck is a big fan of how the Boston Celtics have played to start the season https://t.co/8uY6ZXtiyL pic.twitter.com/TbmoyToCNX
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) January 2, 2024
Boston's defense
The Thunder are one of the NBA’s top defenses, as evidenced by Boston’s struggles scoring the ball. On offense, however, the Thunder are also quite good, and scored with ease Tuesday night.
In fact, the Celtics defensive effort was rather strong on Tuesday. They rotated well, and were proactive in trying to slow Oklahoma City down. Al Horford alone registered 5 blocks, and as a collective Boston had 7 steals and 10 blocks to go with a very effective night rebounding the ball.
But the Thunder excelled regardless, especially during that third quarter. For the game, Oklahoma City shot 52.7% from the field and 45% on 3-pointers.
Andre Drummond floated as potential trade target for Celtics https://t.co/FpPVfmVP0j pic.twitter.com/9RBJ82QWf2
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) January 2, 2024
Final thoughts
With the result, the Celtics are now 26-7 on the season, dropping to 10-7 record on the road, though Boston remains the top seed in the East. Perhaps the club’s excellent record at home may be overshadowing some issues elsewhere.
In the meantime, Boston has a tough schedule coming up, with a few interesting tilts against other contenders on the horizon. In terms of revenge for Tuesday’s game, the Celtics will need to wait a bit longer. The next meeting between these two clubs isn’t until April 3rd.
Boston alum Gordon Hayward on his growing love for chess. https://t.co/j1iSnf9zih pic.twitter.com/b8psjxmj0L
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) January 2, 2024
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