In the Celtics 119-109 statement win over the Thunder, Joe Mazzulla went with a tight nine-man rotation. In what felt like a Finals preview, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown performed at a championship level against the defending champs after laying an egg on Sunday against the visiting Timberwolves.
The game was speckled with some questionable calls. Boston and Oklahoma City combined for 55 trips to the line and just twenty turnovers. In the end, the Celtics identity shined through to win the possession
battle with the team hitting 18-of-41 from behind the arc and dominating the offensive glass to the tune of 19 second chance points to the Thunder’s 2.
Currently, our friends at FanDuel have the Thunder at a +130 to represent the Western Conference and the Celtics sharing odds with the Spurs at +600.
Jayson Tatum
35 minutes, 19 points (3-6 from 3, 6-6 from the free throw line, 5-12 from the field), 12 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, 5 turnovers, 1 block, +2
As quickly as Tatum has recovered from his Achilles tear, it seems as though his assimilation back into the rotation has proportionately been just as fast. In his ninth game back, JT nearly registered a triple-double in a very laboring matchup with the defending champs with 19 points (3-of-6 from 3), 12 rebounds, and 7 assists (and 5 turnovers). It wasn’t a perfect performance, but considering the opponent and their physicality, it was another step in the right direction with ten games to go before the playoffs.
Grade: A
Jaylen Brown
39 minutes, 31 points (1-3 from 3, 12-14 from the free throw line, 9-17 from the field), 8 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, 5 turnovers, +7
Since Tatum’s return, Brown has ceded some of the scoring responsibilities to his counterpart. His shot attempts are down, but he’s averaging more assists and made a concerted effort to drive the ball and get to the line.
Against the Thunder, JB was intent on testing the league’s best defense at the rim. With a handful of spectacular finishes and fourteen trips to the line, he carried the team with 14 points in the 3rd and 10 more in the 4th. It was MVP-level work.
After a close loss in Oklahoma City, Brown was critical with the officiating that night and in general, particularly SGA’s whistle and stars like him “foul baiting” and manipulating the game with flopping. The NBA’s iconoclast made it a point to show the league the difference between toughness and the grift.
Grade: A+
Derrick White
33 minutes, 12 points (2-7 from 3, 4-4 from the free throw line, 3-11 from the field), 2 rebounds, 6 assists, one turnover, +6
DWhite didn’t shoot the ball particularly well, but his two back-to-back threes in the second quarter got the Celtics back into the game after trailing by double digits. Along with the Jays in the final frame, White was part of the trio that limited SGA to just one shot in the fourth quarter.
After spending much of the season as the de facto starting point guard, White should benefit with more catch-and-shoot threes as teams start to double team Brown and Tatum and dare the rest of the team to beat them.
Grade: B
Payton Pritchard
33 minutes, 14 points (4-6 from 3, 5-11 from the field), 2 rebounds, one assist, one turnover, 1 block, +11
OKC is super switchy with strong perimeter defenders up and down the roster. Much of Pritchard’s isolation game is predicated on taking advantage of mismatches
Like White, Pritchard is going to get more open looks playing next to the Jays. He was 4-of-6 from 3
Grade:
Sam Hauser
29 minutes, 19 points (3-8 from 3, 3-19 from the field), 5 rebounds, +4
In the first quarter, it felt like the Thunder were leaving Hauser wide open behind the arc in favor of clogging up the paint. It’s too bad that Hauser couldn’t covert, going just 1-for-5 from 3. In the second half,
Grade: B
Neemias Queta
30 minutes, 13 points (3-4 from the free throw line, 5-7 from the field), 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, +3
Neemi’s greatest area of improvement this season is his understanding of time and space. No, this is not a Robert Williams III reference, but like The Timelord, he’s figured out in Year 3 with the Celtics where to be at the right place and more importantly, at the right time.
He outscored both Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein working off the pick-and-roll with Tatum and being careful not to flash too soon into a passing lane and disrupting the team’s spacing. This dunk on Holmgren is the perfect representation of holding the screen long enough for Tatum to draw two, waiting at the free throw line to catch the pass, and using that runway to rise over Holmgren:
Grade:
Hugo Gonzalez
9 minutes, 3 points (1-2 from 3, 1-2 from the field), 2 rebounds, -3
The rookie played nine minutes in the first half and matched up predominantly against SGA. Frankly, he got cooked a bunch, but that was more about the MVP doing MVP things rather than Gonzalez not sticking to him. Tip of the hat to better offense beating good defense.
Grade: C
Luka Garza
12 minutes, 7 points (1-2 from 3, 0-1 from the free throw line, 3-4 from the field), 2 rebounds, one turnover, +9
Production-wise, you never know what you’re going to get from Garza; what you can rely on is that he’s going to root around the restricted area and do everything he can to earn a couple of Tommy points off the offensive glass. Oh, and the 43.1% three-point shooter will hit a 3 or two if teams are silly enough to leave him open at the top of the arc.
Grade: B+
Baylor Scheierman
20 minutes, 11 points (3-7 from 3, 4-8 from the field), 5 rebounds, one assist, +11
Scheierman absolutely owned the second half. With two threes and a forced turnover against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the third and another triple and putback dunk in the fourth, he had TD Garden rocking as the Celtics gained the lead and never relinquished it.
Like Luka, Baylor has become the unlikely difference maker in so many of these wins by finding ways to make winning plays. He always in the hunt for offensive rebounds and become a nifty finisher off the dribble because of his consistent shooting. If that wasn’t enough, what’s keeping him on the floor is his versatile defense against the league’s best.
Grade: A+++
DNP-CD: Jordan Walsh, Ron Harper Jr., Amari Williams, Max Shulga, Charles Bassey
Inactive: Nikola Vucevic
