The Boston Celtics continued their 3-game road trip on Thursday night, with a final stop in Oklahoma City to take on the reigning champs. In what was a brilliant game of basketball, Payton Pritchard had a game winning attempt for three fall short as the C’s dropped a heart breaker in OKC, 104-102. Jaylen Brown had 34 points, Pritchard 14 points and the Boston bench came up big on the road, but it just wasn’t enough.
Roster-wise, Tatum was ruled out prior to the game due to a scheduled rest night;
Derrick White and Nikola Vucevic were also out for the game. That opened the door for Payton Pritchard to return to the starting lineup alongside Brown, Hauser, Scheierman, and Queta for Boston. Chet Holgren, SGA, Ajay Mitchell, Dort, and Wallace started for the home team. Jalen Williams, Hartenstein, and Carlson were all unavailable for OKC.
Pritchard hit the first shot of the game on a mid-range pull-up over Wallace; Dort hit his straight-on triple as both teams eased into the contest. Pritchard nailed his second shot of the night with a step-back over Chet Holmgren; he looked aggressive to start this game after missing the big San Antonio clash.
Sam Hauser got in on the mid-range act; he hit his first shot and would have 5 points after one quarter. Ron Harper Jr. had another nice showing in the first quarter; off the back of his fantastic San Antonio game, he had 5 first-quarter points on 2-3 shooting.
Rookie Hugo Gonzalez played a solid quarter for Boston with 6 points in five and a half minutes. Jalyen Brown had 8 points, 3 assists, and 2 boards in the first quarter as Boston led 28-27 after the first quarter of play.
Boston scored the first six points to start the 2nd quarter, Walsh and Garza providing the spark as Boston went up 35-27. Walsh laced a triple as Boston whizzed the ball around the court with a series of fine passes. Boston’s bench was up and rowdy, as they had combined for 21 points of the team’s 38 early points.
Scheierman and Pritchard hit back-to-back shots as Jaylen Brown watched on from the bench, Celtics up 43-36 on an entertaining start to the game. Brown returned to the game and swung a pass out to Scheierman in the corner; he hit his first triple of the game in front of the Boston bench.
JB was whistled for his third foul of the night, sprinting back on D to attempt a shot block on Wiggins. SGA rattled in his second three-pointer of the game, and he had 13 points with three minutes to go in the first half. Brown crossed over Dort and drove to the bucket; he was fouled with three OKC defenders in his airspace. JB would go 1 of 2 from the stripe; the score is now tied at 47 apiece.
Luka Garza played the role of a stretch big and nailed a big three-pointer. Boston swung the ball to the corner once more and found Hugo for his first triple of the night on the shorter three-point line. Scheierman hit a relocation three as SGA was left flat-footed, the road Celtics hitting the Thunder hard in the first half. A signature Payton Pritchard three at the buzzer of the half saw the C’s up 59-56 thanks to a stellar bench performance after a half of play.
Boston’s bench had 27 points in the first half; the team registered 15 assists on 23-49 shooting. As a team, Boston was 43% from beyond the arc after 24 minutes of play.
JB grabbed a board over Holmgren to start the third and converted on the putback, was fouled, and hit the extra shot. With Vooch out for Boston with a finger injury, Luka Garza was playing well for Boston on both ends. Hauser hit a wide-open three-pointer for the C’s, the team’s eleventh of the night.
Brown took on Ajay Mitchell and rose over him at the free throw line to hit a pull-up jumper. He went to the foul line for two shots on the next play and hit his sixteenth point of the game. SGA hit his 21st point of the game, overtaking Wilt Chamberlain’s record for most consecutive 20+ point games in NBA history. Wilt held the record for a staggering 63 years until tonight.
Scheierman continued his fantastic road trip shooting-wise; he hit his third three of the game from way downtown, giving a thumbs up in recognition of his recent injury. Queta took the smaller OKC players inside and dunked home an emphatic two-hander; Gonzalez stripped Ajay Mitchell in the key during a good third-quarter stretch for Boston, up 79-75.
Jordan Walsh entered the game at the end of the third and immediately grabbed a defensive rebound and dived on the floor for a loose ball. Gonzalez blocked a three-point attempt from Williams; the C’s young bench was providing a spark on the third night off the road trip.
Hugo dumped off a bounce pass to JB in the dunker spot; he rammed home an emphatic dunk for Boston. Hugo crashed into the defensive glass and was fouled by Isaiah Joe on the loose ball gather. Boston would take a three-point lead into the final quarter, 83-80, both teams playing some tremendous ball after three.
Brown dunked home his 27th point of the game on a solo breakaway to start the 4th quarter. OKC levelled the game at 87 points as SGA converted on a finger roll layup with 9 minutes to go. OKC took a two-point lead as Boston recorded a series of scoreless possessions. Garza had an illegal screen on Dort as Boston had 10 turnovers in the 4th quarter.
Boston had a call overturned as Williams grabbed a piece of Pritchard’s jersey as he rolled to the basket. Joe Mazzulla and the coaching staff with the great challenge scores tied at 91-91. Both teams combined for just 7-28 from the field at the 5 minute mark of the 4th quarter. Brown was fouled by Dort beyond the three point line he would hit all three attempts to take back a slim one point lead.
SGA drilled a jumper at the foul line for the Thunder to take a four point lead after the C’s had a pair of blown plays. Boston entered the bonus after the Thunder received their 5th team foul, Queta hit both free throws to cut it to 2 points. Pritchard drilled a tough shot over SGA to tie things up at 98-98. Dort was whistled for a trip on Brown, after the refs missed a similar play in the first half, Brown leveling the scores at 100 with 30 seconds to go.
Both teams were out of gas to end it, Boston digging deep with two starters out on a tough road trip. Gilgeous-Alexander hit another mid range jumper for 35th point of the game, OKC up a pair with 29 seconds to go. JB nailed a tough turnaround to even the scores at 102-102. Holmgren hit two free throws with Boston needing a 2 to tie it and a three to win with 0.8 seconds on the clock. Pritchard came up short on the final play of regulation, just short of the game winning three-pointer.
The Boston Celtics now travel home to host the Washington Wizards on Saturday at 6pm EST.
