The Boston Celtics snapped their six-game winning streak Tuesday night as they lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder, 127-123. While the Thunder have had an excellent start to the season, this was a significant, signature win to show that they are not a fluke team filled with young talent catching a stride.
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla talked about what doomed the team from the start and it deals with their performance in the third quarter according to Jay King of The Athletic. It was simple as letting Oklahoma City score 40 points while the Celtics had 25, each were their highest and lowest periods of the night respectively.
“Can’t (allow) a 40-point quarter against a team like that,” Mazzulla said. “They put pressure on you the entire game so you have to have a high level of defensive activity, effort, connectivity to make multiple efforts for the entire game.”
For Mazzulla, it seems as if the Celtics were fine throughout the whole game, except for that 12 minute pocket in the third quarter which sealed the deal for the Thunder. While some may think it is an oversimplification, having that kind of showcase in the period especially on the road where Oklahoma City are 14-5 is a recipe for disaster.
“All our guys played well,” Mazzulla said, “except the third quarter.”
Jayson Tatum would contribute with 30 points, 13 rebounds, and eight assists. Derrick White had 19 points and six assists. Plus, Jaylen Brown had 15 points and six rebounds.
Mazzulla gives props to Thunder after loss
While the Celtics are the experienced, gritty team compared to the youthful Thunder squad filled with the likes of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, Josh Giddey, and others, Mazzula gave props to the opponent, even mentioning that the game came down exactly how he thought it would per The Athletic.
“It was two great teams,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “The game went about how I thought it would go as far as it coming down to the last couple of possessions.”
Boston tried to make a scorching comeback as they scored 37 in the fourth quarter and only allowed 29 from the Thunder. Key Celtics acquisition via trade this offseason in Kristaps Porzingis gave credit to Oklahoma City after he scored a team-high 34 points while collecting 10 rebounds.
“That’s a talented young team,” Porziņģis said, “and I don’t believe this was some fluke game for them. They’ve been playing really well. They’re at the top of the West, no? So a really good team to go up against and a really good experience for us.”
Mazzulla talks about Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
One aspect every team should focus on when facing the Thunder is stopping or at the very least, containing Gilgeous-Alexander has to be a priority. If anything, this game was another of the laundry list of reasons why he is a problem in this league as he scored 36 points, recorded seven assists, and collected six rebounds. Still, Mazzulla liked the approach Boston had against the superstar late in the game.
“I thought we stayed square (on Gilgeous-Alexander),” Mazzulla said. “We didn’t give him looks at the basket, which is hard to do because it’s every single possession. So I thought in the fourth quarter we did a better job. We picked up a little bit higher, stayed square, didn’t give him angles. And if we did, we just had guys at the rim and kind of made multiple efforts.”
On the season, Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 31.4 points, 6.4 assists, and 5.7 rebounds while he shoots 54.9 percent from the field. In terms of the points per game number, that is good for third in the entire association.
Porzingis talking about the strategy against Thunder superstar
Porzingis himself said that the team knew Gilgeous-Alexander was in foul trouble late in the game, but credited the Thunder star for “being smart” and working around it. He even revealed that the plan was to attack him in trying to draw fouls to take him out of the game.
“We of course tried to attack him a bit more knowing that he was in foul trouble, but he was being smart knowing that he needs to stay out there for his team,” Porziņģis said to The Athletic. “He wasn’t gambling as much — or maybe he was gambling, but he wasn’t like trying to foul. He was staying out of the way knowing that his teammates have his back. And they’re a really connected team, and everybody knew that he had those fouls, and even on those mismatches he was doing a good enough job so everybody else can help him and make it a little bit tough for us to execute.”
Even with the loss, the Celtics are still No. 1 in the Eastern Conference with a 26-7 record with teams like the Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers, and the Miami Heat behind them in the standings. Their next game will be back at the TD Garden where they are a perfect 16-0 as they will face the Utah Jazz on Friday, Jan. 5.
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