Thunder (53-12) at Celtics (47-18) Game #66 3/12/25

[angryguy77]

KP changes a lot in this game. His rim protection is missed against these smaller fast teams.

Okc showed their cards on D tonight against jt. It's up to Joe to bust it.

Plus, it would be nice if.we got the same.whistle as sga....

[radiohead]

I just saw some highlights, my goodness, SGA?s flops were annoying! They shouldn?t call those when the playoffs come.

[ozgod]

Daignault showed his hand a little bit with how he defended us. Forced us to bomb away from 3 even though that's what we do, and made sure his team protected the rim and blocked off all driving lanes, even if it meant open perimeter shots. And Jaylen had a horrible game, struggled to adapt to their physicality and scheme all night. He kept trying to drive into a wall of defenders. And

Not too worried though end of day. Maybe I'm just an optimist but I think they played pretty well, took 35 free throws, shot 77% from inside the perimeter and we kept it close, though to be fair we didn't really seem to have a chance at winning. But I think the film should give Joe plenty of food for thought because it was a similar strategy to what Memphis employed against us last December where they dared us to shoot from 3 (mainly Jrue who they left open all night). We took 60 3s and made 18 of them for 30% and Jrue was 4/17, Tatum 1/10, KP 3/10...similar gameplan and similar result.

[hodgy03038]

It is tough to win big games when "Bubble Wrap" is not playing. As great as he is when playing I am ready to move on from him next year. It is just our version of Embid. Great talent but just doesn't play. I am sure he will be back for some insignificant game against the likes of a Charlotte or somebody. Hats off to the bigs that DO play. Big Al has been playing great and Kornet usually plays well.

[Birdman]

And OKC didn?t have Williams..can?t depend on Porzingis unfortunately..with Al probably retiring, we need to get a center badly in offseason

[Vermont Green]

Good game, tough loss.  OKC is good.  SGA is good.

Here is my extended breakdown:

Star vs. Star
Tatum vs. SGA - Slight edge OKC

Both stars were good, but I felt that SGA created a little bit more, kept the BOS defense back peddling a little bit more.  Key word slight.

#2 vs. #2
Brown vs Dort (in place of Jalen Williams) - Inconclusive

Their #2 didn't even play but Brown was not able to exploit this.  More of a missed opportunity.  We should have won this big, but didn't.

Bigs vs Bigs
Horford/Kornet vs. Holmgren/Hartenstein - Edge OKC

This would be different had Porzingis played but as it was in this one game, OKC bigs outplayed our bigs.

Other Starters
White/Holiday vs. Wiggins/Wallace - Edge OKC

This should have been a big edge for us but White/Holdiay were -13/-14 and Wiggins/Wallace were +8/+13.  White's box score looked OK, Holiday was 1-7 from 3. 

Bench vs. Bench
Hauser/Pritchard vs. K. Williams/Joe  - Draw

Our guys should have won this but didn't.  The +/- for these guys was favorable for BOS but Hauser/Pritchard were 3-13 from 3 vs. 4-11 for OKC.

Scheme vs. Scheme
Edge OKC

I don't think we have figured out how to handle their pressure or how to stop SGA (neither has anyone else in the league).  I think one key is to post up, OKC will collapse, and there will be 3s.  DEN worked this.  Porzingis would help with this.  We need to find ways to get the ball in he paint, post up or dribble penetration.  We don't have great dribble penetration guards.

As to SGA, the key is to stay in front of him, not let him dribble to where he wants to go.  Easier said than done.  He passes very well out of doubles.  But I would play him true with selective doubles out of pick and rolls.  He will score his points but rotate a few players on him, Brown, White, Holiday, maybe even Tatum.  See if he can do it for a whole game.  Someone else noted that Porzingis helps defend the paint if SGA does get by his man.  This would help but SGA is still very good at finding the open man when someone rotates.

[Redz]

The problem with Pritchard becoming a prominent player on the team is that we?ve come to rely upon him.  When he?s not producing it really hurts.  Obviously, same can be said for JB.

We needed a little something out of either of them last night and got a whole lot of nothin. 

OKC is pretty relentless.  Celts were able to bounce back a bunch of times but they wore the Celts down for sure. 

[celticinorlando]

OKC tested the limits early of being physical and got away with it. They also started hot and Boston was not good early.

-SGA is a free throw merchant. Can't guard him because you get called for a foul which gives him easy shots.
-JB was a no show. PP a no show. Hauser a no show. Holiday a no show on offense. White hit or miss. Kornet, Al and JT only guys that brought it.

-Bench is a real concern in the playoffs. Can Hauser and PP contribute regularly as needed?
-Might be the worst game JB has played in a long time. Just no energy. Not focused.

-4th quarter is an issue. Esp how they start them.

Tough part of the schedule is done. Need to beat a bad Miami and brooklyn over the next 3 games. Head West then.

-Boston still seems to have another gear that they have not gotten to. I m not sure we can say the same about Cleveland or OKC.

[Kuberski33]

Biggest issue for me is that OKC's length is a problem - on both ends. The C's had trouble moving the ball offensively as OKC got their hands on a LOT of passes. Porzingis probably helps there. Also Holmgren and Hartenstein effectively discouraged the C's from attacking the basket as much as I would have liked to see. Hence the wide gap in fouls with all the attempted 3's.  And the Celtics just didn't shoot well enough.

Defensively, OKC hit a lot of contested shots - length again I think, being a contributing factor. They also got too many easy baskets at the rim.

I thought Tatum played very well and Al was terrific. You won't get that from him every game.  These guys would be a handful in a 7 game series. They're not unbeatable, but the C's will need be at the top of their game.

[SparzWizard]

The problem with Pritchard becoming a prominent player on the team is that we?ve come to rely upon him.  When he?s not producing it really hurts.  Obviously, same can be said for JB.

We needed a little something out of either of them last night and got a whole lot of nothin. 

OKC is pretty relentless.  Celts were able to bounce back a bunch of times but they wore the Celts down for sure.

Seemed like after Pritchard's historic run last week, he watered down. Did he hit his peak for the season

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Why do the Celtics usually avoid physicality? Why aren't they willing to mix it up?

[Kuberski33]

Why do the Celtics usually avoid physicality? Why aren't they willing to mix it up?

Considering the foul differential, I think they tried to. But it's hard to overcome a size disadvantage - especially when the bigger team is playing hard.

[angryguy77]

It took 35 Ft and no KP for them to beat us by 6.

I'd be happy winning if I was OKC, but I'd not feel great about it.

[Phantom255x]

Something that is concerning me besides Porzingis' durability and Jrue's age is, it feels like our bench production just plummets against great teams. Hauser, PP suddenly have trouble making shots and sometimes they just can't make up for it in other ways (playmaking, defense, etc.). Not to say they are terrible at that but if they aren't making shots it puts us in a pickle.

It hurts now because we also typically have 1 or 2 starters missing, but come playoffs if our Top-6 isn't healthy that could be bad. It's fine if PP and Hauser are 7th and 8th guys in a playoff rotation eating up about 8-18 minutes a game due to circumstances, but not much more than that.

I wish we got a little more from Craig but idk, like I know he picked up 3 fouls in 4 mins last night but it just feels like they never play him against we decide to sit half the team (or it's truly garbage time). I want to see a little more of him in these games. We're locked into the 2 seed anyways, lets experiment a bit.

[Phantom255x]

Some of the media takes after this game are pretty hilarious. For one, despite how atrocious we were in the 2nd half in January, and last night's game (no KP, 35-12 FT difference), both games ended in a 13 point loss and 6 point loss respectively. Not like OKC thoroughly blew us out, they were fairly close games.

Also, people were saying the EXACT same stuff when Denver swept us in the season series last year. Then it turned out DEN didn't even make the WCF. We'll see. We can worry about OKC if we get to the Finals and they are there. Right now, my focus is primarily on health and Cleveland. I'm not panicking in that regard to this loss.