The Boston Celtics thought that they were in for a cakewalk victory when the Oklahoma City Thunder announced that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander would miss their Tuesday night game with an illness. But Jayson Tatum and the Celtics couldn't have been more wrong. The Thunder run roughshod over the Celtics with a blistering second quarter, and they did not look back en route to a 150-117 victory.
And it seems like Tatum does not want to look back too at such an embarrassing performance from the Eastern Conference leaders. For the Celtics to put this loss behind them, Tatum urged the Celtics to return to what was working for them, and that they must do so from tip-off.
“It's on that first group. We got to get back to our identity. I think when we were playing at the highest level, we just played faster. When we play like that, we're damn near unguardable. Making shots is part of that, so they go hand-in-hand,” Tatum told reporters after the game, per NBC Sports Boston.
"It's on that first group… we got to get back to our identity."
Jayson Tatum on how the Celtics' starting 5 needs to get back on track pic.twitter.com/2iTRUTqlk9
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) January 4, 2023
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown did whatever they could on offense, as the two combined for 56 points on a rock-solid 20-35 from the field. However, the Celtics cannot expect to win games, no matter the talent disparity, when they allow their opponents to shoot 59.2 percent from the field and 50 percent from deep.
The Thunder definitely fed the Celtics some humble pie as five players pitched in to score 20-plus en route to a 33-point thrashing.
At the end of the day, the Celtics' experience should allow them to bounce back from this dreadful loss. Their first opportunity to wash the stench of this defeat against the Thunder will come on Thursday night, when they visit Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks.
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