This past Sunday night, Boston dominated Oklahoma City during the first half of this clash of titans. However, the best team in the Western Conference then owned the final half with a 50-27 showing and dropping the Celtics to their largest defeat of the season with a 105-92 loss.
Even so, the biggest news of the evening was how OKC broke their own franchise record for most-consecutive victories, with the Massachusetts club becoming their 15th-straight victims. After a first-half’s 53-35 run in favor of Boston, their 27-point second half was Boston’s lowest single-half total in 12 years.
The Thunder made some adjustments at halftime by limiting the defending champions to just nine points inside the paint, along with only nine points beyond the 3-point arc. The Celtics were also held to a season-low 15-point third quarter, which was followed by an even lower 12-point fourth.
Once the match was over, Kristaps Porzingis gave some insight into what he thinks caused this offensive debacle. “They took some stuff away from us,” said the big man, who dropped 19 points and won nine rebounds last night. “We turned it over a little bit. They were a bit more aggressive, a bit more handsy.
“They forced some turnovers and they collapsed on us when we didn’t expect – kind of the stuff that they do well. And we just weren’t as sharp as we needed to be because we can make them pay for those overhelps, those reaches, those things that they do where they gamble a bit. We just didn’t make them pay.”
As for coach Joe Mazzulla, he pointed out their rival’s 17 point that came off turnovers in the second half. The Boston tactician explained why that made the biggest difference in the game, while potential-MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander capitalized on it with 33 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, and 2 block to his name.
“That’s a product of poor spacing, poor physicality on the ball, and just poor screening,” said the Celtics head coach. “They’re a team that fights for matchups and, I thought we did a great job of that in the first half. But those 17 points off turnovers were the difference-maker down the stretch.”
