Everything you need to know about the Thunder's 105-104 victory over the Celtics with BSJ insight and analysis
Box Score
Nightmare finish dooms Celtics: Dennis Schroder scored 27 points off the Thunder bench, none bigger than the game-winning layup with eight seconds remaining after a steal of Kemba Walker as the Thunder escaped the TD Garden with a 105-104 victory. Chris Paul added a game-high 28 points for the visitors who came back from an 18-point first-half deficit to hand the Celtics their fourth straight loss on the TD Garden floor and fourth defeat in their last five games overall. Gordon Hayward looked sharp with 24 points in his return to the lineup but Kemba Walker struggled in his third game back from a knee injury (4-of-14 FG), which included the pivotal turnover in the backcourt after the C’s appeared to seize command in the final minute.
All five starters scoring in double figures for the C’s who have now dropped four of their last five overall and 2.5 games behind the Raptors in the race for the No. 2 seed. The schedule gets no easier this week with trips to Indiana and Milwaukee looming.
Kemba Walker struggles again: The All-Star point guard scored just 14 points on 4-of-14 shooting from the field before his game-losing turnover in the final seconds. Poor shooting nights have been par for the course for Walker in the last week since his return as he’s hitting just 31 percent of his FG attempts since his return and just 25 percent from 3-point range. Walker has not shot over 40 percent from the field in a game for nearly a month now dating back to before the All-Star Break and with Jayson Tatum falling back to earth a bit offensively in the past week, the C’s offense has not been good enough to overcome those struggles. Life should get a little easier for Walker when Jaylen Brown returns to the fold but this team needs Walker to play more like his All-Star self if they want to have a chance to go anywhere in the postseason.
TURNING POINT
The Thunder erased an 18-point deficit in the middle quarters with a 38-21 run featuring some stellar defense and shotmaking from Chris Paul. The outburst turned the final quarter into a clean slate for the visitors who took advantage of the big nights from their point guards.
TWO UP
Gordon Hayward: The swingman started slow in his return from a two-game absence (three straight misses) but he played one of his best quarters of the season in the second, giving the hosts a little bit of everything on his way to 12 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and a block before intermission. He finished a team-high plus-25 in the first half on his way to a team-high 24 points on the night.
The Celtics in the second quarter: Boston outscored OKC by 14 points in the frame with some stellar play on both ends of the floor. They posted 37 points thanks to red-hot 3-point shooting (6-of-11) while turning up the defensive pressure by forcing six turnovers by the Thunder and allowing just 40 percent shooting from the field.
TWO DOWN
Brad Wanamaker: With Hayward back in the fold, he saw a big cut in his minutes, playing just five in the first half alone as Romeo Langford took a bigger chunk of his court time due to his superior defense.
Enes Kanter: Another point-blank miss at the rim in his only shot attempt in the first half earned him a DNP-CD in the second half. With Robert Williams looking better by the game, it may only be a matter of time before Kanter is the third center in the depth chart if he doesn’t show more in his offensive game.
TOP PLAY
8️⃣ ➡️ 4️⃣4️⃣ ? pic.twitter.com/76tvSLXZvV
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) March 8, 2020
TWO TAKES B-ROBB WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
Grant Williams’ shooting slump is a problem: The Celtics survived a 0-of-25 slump to begin his career from 3-point range but he’s stuck in another one over the past month, having made just one of his last 14 attempts from downtown. With more defenses doubling Tatum and Boston’s other playmakers on the perimeter, they need supporting pieces that can make defenses pay on the perimeter. One of Ojeleye or Williams needs to be that guy in the playoff rotation but Williams got the chance over Ojeleye in this contest. He didn’t reward Stevens for his faith in him with his makes in this one but with Kanter falling out of the rotation in the second half of games, one more perimeter threat among a bench big is going to be essential, especially for spot minutes in the postseason.
Say goodbye to the No. 2 seed? With four straight home losses on their own floor, the Celtics have found themselves closer to the No. 4 seed than the No. 2 seed in still crowded Eastern Conference playoff picture. With Brad Stevens still leaning on his non-Kemba starters for big minutes against elite opponents, he can’t afford to lose games like this that were set up for wins. Wearing this group out and not getting the No. 2 seed while doing is the worst-case scenario and that’s the path this team is headed towards at the moment in the first round. Stevens needs to take his foot off the gas a bit if the C’s fall short in Toronto next Friday but with Tatum falling back to earth and Kemba Walker still struggling mightily since his return last week, the margin for error for this group is non-existent right now in their quest for an easy first-round opponent in Brooklyn or Orlando. The schedule lightens up soon and the return of Jaylen Brown will help but this past week will be the one that everyone looks back on if they find themselves as a first-round out against Sixers in another few weeks.
