BSJ Game Report: Celtics 111, Thunder 94 - Finally, C's found a way to flip the switch

Everything you need to know about Boston's 111, 94 win over the OKC Thunder with BSJ insight and analysis. 

Box Score

12 Minutes of effort was enough: The Celtics scuffled their way through the first three quarters, dancing around deficits that ranged from two or three to nine or 10. They let Moses Brown look like Moses Malone as he set a career-high in rebounding with 19 … in the first HALF. But they ramped up the effort, and they injected some new blood with Luke Kornet, whose spacing pulled Brown further from the hoop and gave Jayson Tatum room to work. They blasted through the fourth quarter and turned the game into a borderline blowout in just a few minutes.

The stars (eventually) did their job: The first half was a little slow for everyone, Jaylen Brown carried the Celtics in the third. Tatum handled the fourth. And once a few other shots started to fall, they were off to the races.

So did the bench: “I did not think our starters started the game well, obviously,” Brad Stevens said. “But our bench brought good energy and got us back into it. This was going to be a hard game no matter what simply because of how it felt in the schedule, and the last couple of days.”

Boston’s bench outscored OKC’s 40-29. Sure, OKC is running a glorified G League team out there, but we’ll take it.

TURNING POINT

Kornet hit back-to-back 3’s early in the fourth quarter to give the Celtics their first lead of the game, 88-86. It was part of a 17-2 run to start the fourth. 

TOP PLAY

Let’s show the new guy some love… Luke Kornet gives the C’s their first lead, and the lead for good. 

https://twitter.com/celtics/status/1376004513333571587

FOUR UP 

The Jays: Ok they were a combined 6-24 in the first half, but they were 14-26 in the second. Brown attacked in the third quarter and put up 13 points to keep the Celtics close. Tatum helped break the game open with 13 of his own in the fourth

Payton Pritchard: He was part of a huge bench boost to help keep an ugly start from turning into a Cleveland/Sacramento-type loss. All 12 of his points came in some crucial first-half minutes that kept the game from slipping away. 

Carsen Edwards: Edwards hit some very timely shots. 

“Several guys stepped up and did good things,” Stevens said. “The Carsen three at the end of the third was a big three that cut it to four, and that group at the start of the fourth was terrific.”

Luke Kornet: He hit the two big shots, but Stevens lauded his defensive abilities. 

“We’ve been really intrigued with Luke for a long time because of his pick-and-roll defense,” Stevens said. “He’s always in good position. He’s long, he affects shots at the rim.” 

Of course, being a role player involved in a mid-season trade is difficult. Kornet was able to pick up enough that he was able to be comfortable on the floor.

“Coach Stevens told me at halftime just to be ready,” he said after the game. “I was just trying to guard the rim and keep them off the glass and stuff. It was a lot of fun, honestly just to be able to play with this group of guys. Like watching them in Milwaukee, super talented dudes and also like really good dudes, so it was just fun to be able to get out there and play.”

TWO DOWN

The early effort: This was equal parts predictable and disappointing. As Stevens said, they had “no juice” early in the game. They managed to pick it up just in time, but they really didn’t look anything like they did in Milwaukee.

Shot selection: They hung around most of the game, but whenever they got close in the first three quarters, someone would go for an ill-advised 3-pointer that missed and triggered an Oklahoma City run. I know they’re tired, but they’ll also be tired in later, more important games. So they still need to build better habits.

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

Frankly, to me, this was very much a “steal this win and run to the bus” kind of game. Like I said, the sloppy start was predictable. 

However, they weren’t winning many of these games earlier this season. They have had a few “steal the W” kind of games where they never did actually grab it before leaving. That they were able to actually flip a switch is, sadly, a good sign. 

Normally we don’t like much switch-flipping. That’s usually reserved for good teams, and Boston hasn’t been very good this season. 

They spent much of the game making mistakes and taking bad shots, but, when it mattered, they put it into gear and took off.

I’m not lumping this into the other bad-effort games. This game is like finding a $20 bill in your coat pocket. You don’t care how it got there, you’re just happy you found it. 

"We needed a gut check win," Stevens said. "This was one you had to find a way because you can't keep going back and forth. You got to establish some momentum here.”