Celtics recover late but fall to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder: 10 takeaways

celts

The Thunder look like a real contender.

Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis, right, tries to get away from Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 2 2024, in Oklahoma City. AP Photo/Nate Billings

The Celtics rallied late but couldn’t overcome a large deficit in the fourth quarter on Tuesday, falling to the Oklahoma City Thunder 127-123.

Here are the conclusions.

1. Before we get to the rally, we should note that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander looked like the most unstoppable player the Celtics have faced so far this season. True, the Celtics have yet to face Nikola Jokic or Luka Doncic, but through 32 games, Gilgeous-Alexander’s exceptionally patient and unflappable offensive skills were unstoppable for 3.5 quarters. Neither Jrue Holiday nor Derrick White, both All-Defense candidates, had anything for the Thunder superstar, who scored 36 points on 14-of-22 shooting and made three of his five 3-pointers. He also dished out seven assists and grabbed six rebounds. The only place he struggled was at the free throw line, where he was unusually 5-for-8 (he’s shooting just under 92 percent this season).

NBA.com’s MVP rankings list Gilgeous-Alexander at No. 4, and that may be the case so far this season. But the Celtics have some answers for No. 1 (Joel Embiid) and No. 3 (Giannis Antetokounmpo). As a scorer, Gilgeous-Alexander is as tough as they come.

2. The Celtics showed some grit in the fourth quarter when they could have packed up and prepared for a trip home after starting the New Year with games against the Spurs and Thunder. Jalen Williams (yes, we double-checked we had the right one) threw down a huge one-handed dunk in transition with 8:25 left in the fourth quarter, increasing the Thunder’s lead to 18, and the Celtics replaced Jayson Tatum and Derrick White comes in for one more push.

After two empty possessions, Al Horford hit a one-handed slam in transition, which was mildly interesting.

The Celtics got a stop and White hit a three-pointer, which was a little more interesting.

Jaylen Brown scored a layup, the Celtics blocked Chet Holmgren at the rim and White hit another 3-pointer, and suddenly things perked up significantly. The Celtics were only down 10 with more than five minutes left, and the lead was cut even further after a Thunder timeout when Jayson Tatum made a layup.

Over the next 4.5 minutes, the Thunder made just three field goals, but some were big: two grueling 3-pointers by Holmgren. That kept the Celtics at bay long enough to turn the final seconds into a free throw game, which is (of course) the problem when you see a team with an 18-point lead in the fourth quarter: you need to play very well . and you need to be lucky. For about eight minutes, the Celtics played very well. The Thunder, however, did enough to prevent luck from affecting the outcome.

3. Speaking of bad luck, the Celtics probably would have had a chance to tie it on their final possession if Kristaps Porzingis’ 16-footer had been a little smaller. With five seconds left, Jayson Tatum drove and kicked to Porzingis, who buried what looked like a three in the corner, but the referees called him a two. A closer look proved them right: Porzingis got too far ahead of himself. That essentially ended the Celtics’ comeback, as they remained down two, giving the Thunder a chance to get Gilgeous-Alexander back to the free throw line (this time he didn’t miss any of the shots).

Porzingis was excellent against a Thunder team that lacks size. Holmgren is almost as tall as Porzingis and does a lot of things well, but he is very thin at this stage of his development, and the Celtics were able to take advantage of him with 17 offensive rebounds. Porzingis shot on six of them and 10 overall to finish with a team-high 34 points on 12-of-18 shooting.

4. Part of the reason the Celtics got back into the game was a defensive switch by Joe Mazzulla, sending Tatum to Gilgeous-Alexander in the fourth quarter. Tatum’s size and length hindered the Thunder guard at a crucial moment, and while the Celtics may not be able to get away with it for an entire game, Gilgeous-Alexander is, after all, very crafty and the Celtics wouldn’t want for Tatum to do it. get into foul trouble: Mazzulla might be glad to have that emergency glass-breaking option available to him when these teams meet again.

Tatum was key in the Celtics’ comeback and flirted with a triple-double: 30 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists.

5. Presumably a source of frustration for the Celtics when they watch the film of Tuesday’s loss: The lead ballooned to 18 with Gilgeous-Alexander on the bench early in the fourth quarter. If they could have even kept up with the Thunder’s reserves, the latest surge could have led to a different outcome. The Celtics were also blown out in the third quarter, allowing 40 points and scoring 25.

6. Jaylen Brown has been very good lately, but Tuesday’s game was bad: 15 points, 4 of 18 shooting, 0 of 8 from three, three turnovers. While he was 7-of-8 from the free throw line, he missed a big one with 1:32 left, which, with 20/20 hindsight, was another missed opportunity for the Celtics to be in a one-possession game.

7. This season, Josh Giddey shoots 34 percent from deep. He was 4-for-7 on Tuesday and forced the Celtics to tighten up their defense a bit after numerous big hits in the first three quarters.

The Thunder, who have the NBA’s best 3-point percentage at 39.3 percent so far this season, were 18 of 40 from behind the arc, a healthy 45 percent despite a combined 3 of 14 by Luguentz Dort, Jaylin Williams (yes, we checked that twice) and Vasilije Micic.

8. Extremely limited sample size, but the Celtics have experimented with a double-team lineup that includes Luke Kornet and Kristaps Porzingis in recent games. In 29 possessions this season, for clean the glass, that pairing has helped the Celtics outscore their opponents by 45.3 points per 100 possessions, which 1) is obviously unsustainable but also 2) speaks to how well that duo can perform in certain matchups.

9. The Thunder are very young and young teams tend to struggle in big moments (look no further than the Celtics’ big rally on Tuesday). But young teams can also go far in the playoffs (look no further than the Celtics team that came within one win of the NBA Finals in Tatum’s rookie season). A Thunder-Celtics final might be a long shot (the Jokic issue would be very difficult to address in a seven-game series), but the Thunder have more than enough picks to make a big move or two if they want to go all out. in this season.

Our two cents: it wouldn’t be a bad idea to take advantage of an opportunity. Windows closes faster than you would expect in the NBA and sometimes things do not go according to the plan.

10. The Celtics return home to face the Utah Jazz on Friday at 7 pm. Immediately after, they hit the road for a back-to-back Saturday against the Pacers, followed by another game against the Pacers in Indianapolis on Monday.