Celtics (26-9) at Thunder (29-5) Game #36 1/5/25

[celticinorlando]

Really poor showing in the second half. The 3 point attempts have to be reigned in. They cannot sustain this.

[jpotter33]

27 points in the 2nd half. Yikes. OKC is pretty clearly a better team than the Celtics. They?re missing two of their top five players and we went into this one really wanting to win. They missed a number of easy looks, too.

Yeah, our shooting was horrendous, but they were just always lurking out there. Nothing easy. And physicality destroys us

Eh, they beat us today at home and were the better team in the second half/overall today for sure, but they've got to do this when it matters most to say they're a "better team" than the Celtics, especially when we had one of the worst shooting performances of the year even on wide open shots. We've also barely played with our main unit all healthy, which has contributed to us not being that sharp.

Also, I question how much Caruso and Holmgren will help at this point. Their defense is honestly about as good as it can legitimately get, so replacing a shooter with Caruso may actually end up a downgrade for them. As for Holmgren, I think that will more help with their bench units and when SGA sits rather than their overall top-level, as it will allow to have another legitimate center when Hartenstein has to sit.

[Who]

1. JB has been dreadful. Just awful

2. Shot themselves into this loss. This team cannot figure out when the 3s aren't falling then they need to stop chucking

Embarrassing second half.

They drove the ball a bunch and got hammered and the refs swallowed the whistles. I wouldn't mind as much but we NEVER get home cooking like this!

OKC seems the be the league's darling. Same thing the other night vs the Knicks

They're comparing SGA to Jordan and treating him like he is.

The only guys I can think to compare SGA to are MJ and prime D-Wade. I can't think of anyone else that player like this and to this high of a level of performance.

[Goldstar88]

Pure emasculation by OKC. On the only game of the road trip that mattered, the Cs were absolutely destroyed by OKC without Chet and Caruso. Just a pathetic 2nd half performance.

They weren?t destroyed. The Celtics were handling them in the first half, but couldn?t make a shot in the 2nd half. Boston isn?t beating anyone shooting 36% from the field and 19% from 3pt. They were missing wide open shots.

[Atzar]

I think they can just keep Scal after this today. Guy literally fanboy'd OKC the entire game.

He wasn't wrong, though.  That game was more about OKC than us.  They have elite perimeter defense and an excellent positional defensive center who backs their guys up in the paint when they do get beat.  They took away our drive-and-kick game and we couldn't score through Hartenstein at the rim.

We're going to have to shoot well against that team.  White, Jrue, Horford, PP, Hauser - those guys have to spread the floor and hit shots.  Tonight they were mostly useless so OKC just collapsed on the Jays' attempts to drive in the second half.  SGA murdered Jrue in the fourth quarter and we got run off the court as a result. 


The thing I will say is that OKC has to play like their hair is on fire to defend that way. Maximum effort.  I'm always a little concerned about health with teams like that. 

[CelticSooner]

C?s will never beat them shooting like that. It?s a tough matchup regardless. The way they decided to just say f it after OKC turned up the intensity was crap though. That?s front runner ball we haven?t seen in a long while.

[Goldstar88]

1. JB has been dreadful. Just awful

2. Shot themselves into this loss. This team cannot figure out when the 3s aren't falling then they need to stop chucking

Embarrassing second half.

They drove the ball a bunch and got hammered and the refs swallowed the whistles. I wouldn't mind as much but we NEVER get home cooking like this!

OKC seems the be the league's darling. Same thing the other night vs the Knicks

They're comparing SGA to Jordan and treating him like he is.

The only guys I can think to compare SGA to are MJ and prime D-Wade. I can't think of anyone else that player like this and to this high of a level of performance.

Pretty sure Kobe played at higher level than SGA and D-Wade. I mean, he has 5 rings for a reason.

[Muzzy66]

we got beat by a better team yall- this stuff they did to us in the second half was ridiculous. it wasnt a punch in the mouth it was a slap in the face, 3s are not falling what did we counter with..nothing..no mid-range nothing. This OKC is very well coached and everyone plays their role. SGA that block on tatum, what else can i say...lol on to the next game.

The problem is that the Celtics were shooting 20% from three on some stupid number of attempts by the time they started the 4th and yet they didn't even try to change things up, except for Tatum who at least made some attempts to attack the basket. 

What bothers me is that Jayson Tatum consistently gets to the free throw line at a higher rate than Jaylen Brown.  To me that is just unacceptable.
 A guy with Jaylen's length, strength and explosive athleticism he should be getting to the line pretty much at will - certainly more often than a guy liek Tatum, who is much more of a finesse guy and has always been more of a jumpshooter. 

[Who]

1. JB has been dreadful. Just awful

2. Shot themselves into this loss. This team cannot figure out when the 3s aren't falling then they need to stop chucking

Embarrassing second half.

They drove the ball a bunch and got hammered and the refs swallowed the whistles. I wouldn't mind as much but we NEVER get home cooking like this!

OKC seems the be the league's darling. Same thing the other night vs the Knicks

They're comparing SGA to Jordan and treating him like he is.

The only guys I can think to compare SGA to are MJ and prime D-Wade. I can't think of anyone else that player like this and to this high of a level of performance.

Pretty sure Kobe played at higher level than SGA and D-Wade. I mean, he has 5 rings for a reason.

I don't think Kobe played the same way. He was less dynamic a ball-handler. Young MJ was and prime D-Wade was.

These three guys (SGA, MJ, Wade) you can't keep out of the paint. They can get to wherever they want to get to. And they all live at the foul line. They take smart shots. They score with high efficiency. And they handle & pass the ball as well as a PG.

[celticinorlando]

Celtics couldn't beat a bunch of high schoolers they way they shot the ball in the second half. That was flat out putrid. Shameful.

[celticinorlando]

WE know what will happen Tuesday. Cs will shoot poorly....get behind by double digits....make a run only to lose it in the end. Seems to be the script with this team lately.

[86MaxwellSmart]

Fatigue for sure. 3rd game in 4 days. Sputtered out in the 2nd half....and bringing back Brown in a key game was a mistake,when they were playing well without him.

[CelticSooner]

WE know what will happen Tuesday. Cs will shoot poorly....get behind by double digits....make a run only to lose it in the end. Seems to be the script with this team lately.

The only thing we know is Jokic will have a monster game. If the C?s shoot well they will win.

[celticinorlando]

27 points in the second half. Is this a trend or a one off?

[Roy H.]

Pure emasculation by OKC. On the only game of the road trip that mattered, the Cs were absolutely destroyed by OKC without Chet and Caruso. Just a pathetic 2nd half performance.

They weren?t destroyed. The Celtics were handling them in the first half, but couldn?t make a shot in the 2nd half. Boston isn?t beating anyone shooting 36% from the field and 19% from 3pt. They were missing wide open shots.

You're right.  At the same time it's discouraging to see the lack of adjustments and the inherent laziness we frequently play with.  If our 3 pointers aren't falling, we lose.  With talented starters who can score at multiple levels that shouldn't be the case.