Recap: Horrible Shooting Night Leads to Collapse, C’s Fall to Thunder 119-115
Alonzo Adams | USA TODAY Sports
Boston took on the short-handed Thunder on night one of a back-to-back. Boston did not seem to want it as much as Oklahoma City, losing 119-115. The win snapped a 14-game losing streak for the Thunder.
Jaylen Brown (39) and Payton Pritchard (28) were the only two Celtics who could get things going. With Jayson Tatum, Kemba Walker, and Robert Williams all out, Boston was desperate for scoring. Pritchard was the real surprise in this one. He continued his recent hot stretch, shooting 9-16 from the field and 4-10 from deep. He and Brown combined to shoot 22-42 (52.4%) from the field, while the rest of the team only shot 19-55 (34.5%).
The Thunder, on the other hand, received contributions from a variety of places. They had five double-digit scorers, led by Luguentz Dort with (24) and Darius Bazley (21). They also had five different players make at least two three-pointers. It was an all-around beatdown from the Thunder on offense.
Boston’s subpar perimeter defense only aided the three-point barrage of the Thunder. They were slow to close out on a ton of threes, and it led to Oklahoma City shooting 13-30 (43.3%) from deep on the night. This stat looks even worse because the Celtics were awful from range, shooting 11-49 (22.4%).
It was an ugly night on both sides of the ball, but more so for Boston. Their offense was stagnant, their defense was lazy, and the effort was low for most of the game. Through the first two quarters, it seemed like the Thunder might run away with it. Despite this, the C’s made one of their trademark late-game comebacks.
A miraculous push in the final minute brought the Celtics within striking distance, but it was too little too late. The shots weren’t falling for Boston, and the Thunder eked out the 119-115 win. Poor shooting nights from Marcus Smart and Evan Fournier were significant factors as the Celtics lose their third game in a row.
They now face night two of a back-to-back tomorrow against the Hornets, who just blew them out on Sunday. That game will tip off at 7:30 p.m. (EST) on NBC Sports Boston.
