The Oklahoma City Thunder (0-4) will continue to lose in their fourth match of the new season, even though they are now leading with 16 points. The Boston Celtics (3-2), however, are hot late and finally win 101:95 (BOXSCORE).
After the disappointing start to the season, Thunder coach Billy Donovan reacted with a change in the Starting Five: Instead of Patrick Patterson, Jerami Grant was allowed to play right from the start. Russell Westbrook was back on the pitch in his second game after his knee surgery, with Dennis Schröder coming sixth from the bench.
There were no changes in the Celtics, but the stars around Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward got a disastrous start. Of the first 12 litter attempts only three found their way through the cage, OKC, on the other hand, did much better.
Accordingly, the landlords issued early. A time-out of Celtics coach Brad Stevens after two and a half minutes at 2:11 from his team’s point of view did not bring the desired effect. On the contrary: The Thunder continued to exert pressure and increased their lead to 19:6.
It was only towards the end of the first quarter that Boston seemed to finally arrive in the game with a 10:3 run, among other things thanks to some good actions by Daniel Theis. However, the Celtics did not bring about a turnaround. Also in the second section OKC remained decisive, the hosts went with 50:34 into the half-time break.
But in the cabin Celtics coach Brad Stevens obviously found exactly the right words. Boston turned up the heat in the third quarter – suddenly much even the threesome, which was painfully missed in half one. Especially Al Horford (19 points, 9 rebounds, 3/5 threes) proved his hot hand with 3 threes in a row.
The Celtics finished the third quarter with a 19-5 run, taking the lead for the first time in the game (74-73). Until a few minutes before the end, the game remained balanced. No team was able to gain a real advantage, until Alex Abrines sank two threes in a row for OKC.
That laid the foundation for a 10:2 run of the Thunder, with which the hosts threatened to divide a little (94:85). But that shouldn’t be it for a long time. Boston quickly came back – one minute before the end Kyrie Irving equalled Irving by layup.
Shortly thereafter Marcus Morris (21 and 10) brought the Celts into the front by three, then Westbrook from Downtown failed. Morris, on the other hand, grabbed the rebound and used the chance to extend his lead from the free-throw line to 4 points.
The Thunder didn’t get a good throw on the other side, Westbrook didn’t do a good job and wanted to force it too much. Then Boston made everything clear from the line and finally won the game with 101:95.
In addition to Horford and Morris, Jayson Tatum also convinced the Celtics with 24 points, while Irving scored 15 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. In the Thunder, Paul George was the best thrower with 22 points (7/22 FG), Westbrook finished with 13 points (5/20 FG), 15 rebounds and 8 assists. For the Thunder this defeat is synonymous with the worst start to the season since the franchise was based in OKC.
Dennis Schröder did not play in Crunchtime despite a solid performance, but the German played 10 points (4/10 FG), 6 assists and 3 rebounds. Theis, on the other hand, was no longer on the floor during the entire second half. In 9 minutes in half 1 he scored 4 points and snatched 1 rebound.
Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Boston Celtics -:- (BOXSCORE)
Marcus Morris. Quietly and quietly, the Big Man collected points one after the other – he, too, did not reach top form until half-time two. Of his total of 21 points, 19 came after the break tea. Especially from downtown he gave his team important impulses (4/5 threes), including the important triple to the lead shortly before the end.
Russell Westbrook. That was still too little for the 29-year-old’s own demands. Westbrook showed a lot of rust on his throw and efficiency after missing the preparation and the first two games of the season due to a knee surgery in summer. 15 rebounds and 8 assists in 5 ball losses sounds not bad, but his 13 points in 5 out of 20 from the field is definitely better. Also in the Cunchtime he had several misthrows.
The again weak Shooting of the Thunder made the Offense of the Hausherren logically also in other ranges to create, for example with the Pick & Roll. The Celtics rotated in these situations a lot of help towards the zone to defend the drives of Westbrook and Schröder. As a result, Westbrook was forced to take two pull-up mid-range jumpers, which were not very efficient.