The defending champion Boston Celtics matched up against (arguably) the current title favorites in the Oklahoma City Thunder for the second time this season on Wednesday night. Facing down the team with the best record in basketball this season, the Celtics played in a playoff atmosphere at home at the TD Garden. But after three quarters of some of the most entertaining basketball we’ve seen this season, the Celtics faltered late, and the Thunder scored a 118-112 win.
Jayson Tatum had a strong night with 33 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, while Derrick White and Al Horford combined for 40 points and 12 made threes, carrying the team in the first half with blistering shooting from deep. Jaylen Brown, however, struggled. He scored just 10 points on 5-of-15 shooting for the night and picked up his sixth foul of the night late in the fourth quarter with the Celtics jockeying for the lead in a close game.
The Thunder opted to play small tonight absent Jalen Williams (hip) and Alex Caruso (illness). In lieu of a double big lineup with Holmgren and Hartenstein, they tabbed reserve guards Aaron Wiggins and Cason Wallace to take the open spots in the starting five. Though the small-ball look didn’t stifle the Celtics’ shooting the way they had hoped, they enjoyed great success behind the duo of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (34 points, 7 assists) and Chet Holmgren (23 points, 15 rebounds). In all, seven Thunder players recorded double-digit scoring totals.
Oklahoma City opened up the game on a quick 9-0, taking advantage of a Boston offense that missed its first five shots from the field. The quick start was barely enough to match two-fifths of the Boston starting lineup, however. Horford and White responded to the early run with a flurry of threes, connecting on three apiece and scoring the Celtics’ first 19 points between them. No other Celtic recorded a point until Tatum’s three with just under four minutes to play in the first, but Boston didn’t need much more — they trailed the Thunder 33-30 after a frenetic first quarter.
The Thunder continued to score as the second quarter commenced, but the tide of Celtics’ three-pointers was relentless and punishing. In the first half, a whopping 36 of their 48 shot attempts came from behind the arc, and the extreme approach was highly productive — they connected on 15 (42%). White and Horford continued to cook, but it was Tatum’s emergence that allowed the Celtics to hang tight with Oklahoma City. He scored 18 points in the first half, and after the teams matched each other with 30 points apiece in the second quarter, the Celtics hit the halftime break trailing by three, 63-60.
The second half began tilted in Oklahoma City’s favor, as the Thunder managed to work their way ahead by as many as 12 points. Gilgeous-Alexander and Holmgren continued to surge in what was a huge night for each (57 points combined). But the Celtics continued to hang tough, and a three-pointer from Horford cut the Thunder lead back down to seven points with just over five minutes to play in the third quarter. The latter half of the quarter tilted in Boston’s favor, and after Tatum converted on an and-one layup, they headed to the final frame tied with the Thunder, 88 points apiece.
The fourth quarter began in a stalemate. Early inroads by the Thunder were quickly rebuffed, with White swatting a shot attempt by Holmgren and knocking down a corner three on the other end — his sixth — to keep the game tied at 95-all with under nine minutes remaining in regulation.
The ensuing few minutes favored the Thunder, who inched their way ahead by as many as six points as the quarter wore on. Boston’s offense stagnated for a short stretch, but a smooth midrange jumper from Tatum and an assertive dunk from Brown put them back within four points. After Brown’s dunk, though, came a costly mistake — his sixth foul of the game, a shooting foul on Holmgren. Brown departed and Holmgren converted both free throws, putting the Celtics behind by six with 3:36 to play.
The sequence seemed to carry the Thunder across the finish line. Oklahoma City emerged on a 15-4 run late in the quarter, suddenly finding themselves ahead by 10 points with a minute left to play. In the blink of an eye, the Celtics were forced into playing the intentional foul game, and though they briefly pulled within four points of the lead in the closing seconds, they ultimately weren’t particularly close to completing the comeback.
Next up, the Celtics kick off a stretch of eight road games in their next nine matchups with a visit to Miami, facing off with the Heat at 7 PM EST on NBA TV.
