Celtics-Thunder Preview

By BRETT HUSTON
Posted Feb 21 2012 6:12PM

When the NBA's condensed schedule was released, one spot for the Oklahoma City Thunder to circle seemed to be a back-to-back home stretch against the league's premier historical powerhouses.

Given the current state of the Boston Celtics, the Thunder's biggest obstacle might be looking ahead.

The Thunder go for their 11th consecutive home win Wednesday night against the scuffling Celtics, who won't have Rajon Rondo and may not have Kevin Garnett as they try to avoid heading into the All-Star break with a fifth straight loss.

Oklahoma City (25-7) will play twice more before the break, capping a five-game homestand with visits from the Celtics and Lakers, a pair of franchises that have had their shares of ups and downs in the first half.

But while Los Angeles still has the look of a potential threat to the Thunder in the Western Conference, Boston is clinging to a playoff spot in the East. The Celtics (15-16) have dropped six of seven and four straight by an average of 12.5 points, with Monday's 89-73 loss in Dallas their most lopsided since the opening week of the season.

Boston didn't have Garnett (personal reasons) for the second straight game, Rondo (suspension) or Brandon Bass (knee). To make matters worse, the Celtics lost starters Jermaine O'Neal (sprained left wrist) and Chris Wilcox (right adductor strain) in the third quarter.

"We've got to get our guys back. At one point, I had five guards out there. We were just trying to mess up the game," coach Doc Rivers said. "I'm scared to talk to the medical staff because they don't give me good news. We've got to hold the fort until we get bodies back."

Rondo on Wednesday will finish serving his two-game suspension for throwing the ball at an official. It's unclear if Garnett, Bass, O'Neal or Wilcox will return.

With that list of injuries and the Lakers on tap for Thursday's first-half finale, it could be easy for Oklahoma City to overlook Boston. The Thunder already own a victory at TD Garden, winning 97-88 on Jan. 16 behind 28 points from Kevin Durant and 26 from Russell Westbrook to extend another Celtics skid to five.

That was the fifth straight victory in this series by the road team, however. The Thunder have lost all three games in Oklahoma City against the Celtics, while Durant is a personal 0-4 at home versus Boston dating back to the franchise's days in Seattle.

If the Thunder play anything like they did early in Monday's game against New Orleans, they should break that drought with ease. After Sunday's thrilling 124-118 overtime victory against Denver, Oklahoma City built a 26-point lead Monday before hanging on to win 101-93.

"We brought the energy from the beginning," Durant said after the franchise won 10 in a row at home for the first time since a 12-game run Feb. 22-April 2, 1998, in Seattle. "... We had a few slip-ups in the third and obviously in the fourth but I think we did a good job overall of playing hard."

The Thunder also had to overcome a few injuries. Key reserves James Harden (sprained left ankle) and Nick Collison (left quad contusion) sat out, but neither is believed to be seriously hurt and both could play Wednesday.

"You're going to have injuries," Westbrook said. "You've just got to make sure you're ready to take the opportunity and be ready to play."

The Thunder are 17-0 when they allow 95 points or fewer, and that's bad news for Boston. The Celtics haven't surpassed that mark in nine games, averaging 84.0 points in that stretch.

Thunder hand Celtics 5th straight loss, 119-104

By JEFF LATZKE
Posted Feb 23 2012 2:35AM

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) The Boston Celtics can only hope their game against the Oklahoma City Thunder is a microcosm of their season: a dreadful first half and a gutsy second half.

Either way, they'd like the final result to be better.

Russell Westbrook scored 31 points, Kevin Durant added 28 and the Thunder sustained a late Boston rally before beating the Celtics 119-104 on Wednesday night for their 11th straight win at home.

It was the fifth straight loss for Boston, which hits the All-Star break a disappointing 14-16.

"We've got to come together as a group and understand we still have a shot at this," said Paul Pierce, who tied Kevin Garnett for the team lead with 23 points. "We have tremendous depth when people are healthy. We know we can play when we're right. We know what we can do when we're right.

"We didn't finish off this first half like we wanted to but hopefully the second half, we can treat it like the second part of the season and come back refreshed and re-energized."

Garnett also had 13 rebounds after missing the previous two games for personal reasons but the Celtics were still without point guard Rajon Rondo as he served the second game of a two-game suspension and three other regulars due to injuries.

Rondo was selected to the Eastern Conference All-Star team earlier Wednesday night to replace injured Atlanta guard Joe Johnson.

"I know Rajon Rondo was out and I know that was probably not easy for (coach) Doc (Rivers), but we played against a very good team that plays with such pride and such toughness that it was a good win for us," Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said.

Boston trailed by as many as 27 in the third quarter before rallying to get within 108-102 after Pierce's free throw with 3:31 left.

Durant banked in a pair of jumpers and hit two free throws during an 11-2 run to close the game for Oklahoma City, tied with Miami for the league's best record at 26-7.

"We knew this team was going to keep fighting us. Giving up is not in their character and they have a great coach and a great group of guys," Durant said. "We knew they were going to come out and fight. We knew they were going to make a run. That's what happens in this league.

"But I think we did a good job of staying composed and pulling it out."

The Thunder took control with a mammoth 30-3 run that carried over into the second quarter, including a span of 21 consecutive points, and eventually pushed their lead to 83-56 after Daequan Cook's 3-pointer from the left corner with 7:07 left in the third quarter.

The Celtics cut the deficit in half with a 16-4 run to finish the third, with much of the damage coming after Durant picked up his fourth foul and went to the bench with just under 3 minutes remaining.

Ray Allen's jumper to start the fourth quarter got Boston within 94-82, and it got as close as six following an 11-2 run that came during a stretch when two Oklahoma City players were called for technical fouls. Kendrick Perkins got one after fouling out, and Serge Ibaka picked one up soon after replacing Perkins.

"The guys just wouldn't give up. We gave ourselves a chance there in the last 3 minutes. We just couldn't get over the hump," Pierce said.

Rivers credited Pierce for leading the charge, calling out the margin as the Celtics pulled within 20 and then 17, and so on. It never got any closer than six, though.

The Thunder got it back together to finish it out, ending up with a 43-32 advantage on the boards - including only three offensive rebounds for Boston - and 27 fast-break points, one off their season best. The 119 points were also one shy of their most in regulation this season.

"I've never played on a team that's just given up. I just tried to push the guys, push the guys all the way to the finish," Pierce said. "I've never been a player that stopped short."

Cook and James Harden chipped in 17 points apiece for Oklahoma City. Backup power forward Nick Collison missed his second straight game with left quad contusion.

Allen scored 21, Mickael Pietrus 16 and Avery Bradley 12 as all five Boston starters reached double figures. The bench, lacking depth with Brandon Bass (knee) and centers Jermaine O'Neal (wrist) and Chris Wilcox (thigh) hurt, provided only nine points.

The Celtics have twice lost five games in a row this season, both punctuated by losses to Oklahoma City.

The Thunder swept the season series for the first time in six years, having lost to Boston in their home building all three times since moving from Seattle.

Oklahoma City missed nine of its first 10 shots and quickly fell behind 15-5, then could hardly miss for the rest of the first half, going 18 for 23 during the most impressive stretch.

Harden's driving layup completed the one-sided spurt and made it 42-25 in the first 2 minutes of the second quarter. The lead grew to 72-49 by halftime after Boston's worst defensive half of the season.

"We were moving the ball, we were running the court, we were playing with a good pace and taking care of the basketball. It was beautiful basketball in the first half," Brooks said.

"We just got a little sloppy with our turnovers and our ball-handling and our decisions in the second half."

Notes: Rivers got a kick out of Rondo being picked as an All-Star while serving a suspension. "Now we know the league does not hold grudges. ... It's Rondo's (26th) birthday today, so I was joking. I said, `In one gift, you got the All-Star. In the other gift, you gave $250 grand back to the league, so that's a heck of a birthday present,"' Rivers said. Durant will replace Johnson in the 3-point contest, competing for the first time. Durant previously won the H-O-R-S-E competition twice before it was discontinued. ... The Celtics' previous season worst for points allowed was 69, in the first half of a 115-107 loss at Miami in the second game of the season. ... It was Perkins' 11th technical of the season. Two more would earn him a one-game suspension. Durant also picked up his first technical foul of the season in the second quarter after getting blocked by Garnett.

Notebook: Thunder 119, Celtics 104

Posted Wednesday February 22, 2012 11:50PM

By Randy Renner, NBA.com

THE FACTS: The Oklahoma City Thunder used a huge first half (72 points) and big games from All-Stars Russell Westbrook (31 points) and Kevin Durant (28 points) to breeze past the Boston Celtics 119-104 inside Chesapeake Energy Arena. Oklahoma City sixth man James Harden added 17 as did Daequan Cook. Durant also had nine rebounds and six assists.

For the second game in a row though the Thunder came oh so close to blowing a big lead. They let a 26-point margin against New Orleans on Monday night shrink down to six before winning and tonight it was a 27-point cushion that also slipped down to just a half dozen with just over three minutes to play. The Thunder closed the game out with an 11-2 run.

The Celtics had all five starters in double figures led by 23 points from Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. Ray Allen dropped in 21 and Mickael Pietrus added 16.

The Thunder have won the first four games of this current five-game homestand while the Celtics have lost five in row and seven of the last eight.

QUOTABLE: "Our first half, against a very talented team, that was just beautiful basketball. We were moving the ball and running the court and I couldn't ask for better shooting. The we got a little sloppy in the second half and made some bad decisions."
--Thunder head coach Scott Brooks

QUOTABLE II: "We just have to stay focused. When you're up 25 points it's hard to stay focused."
--Thunder forward Serge Ibaka

THE STAT: In the first half the Thunder shot 56.5 percent overall and 66.7 percent (8-for-12) on 3-pointers. Oklahoma City only had two turnovers in the half (a season low) and outscored Boston 20-5 on the fast break. In the second half OKC was just 1-for-7 (14.3 percent) on 3-pointers and turned it over 12 times and was outscored 16-7 on the break.

TURNING POINT: That big first half (a 72-48 Thunder Lead) did in the Celtics. Boston outscored Oklahoma City 55-47 in the second 24 minutes but it was just too high a mountain to climb. The Thunder put together a 21-0 run in the first half to stretch their lead out past 20 points.

QUOTABLE III: "That stretch just killed us because if you get down to this team the likelihood of you making a comeback without someone making a shot is almost impossible."
-- Celtics head coach Doc Rivers

QUOTABLE IV: "We came into the locker room after the game and said the effort we played with tonight in the second half is what we need to do every game from here on out."
--Celtics guard Ray Allen

HOT: The Celtics started the game by hitting five of their first six shots (83.3 percent)...Oklahoma City went 10-for-14 (71.4 percent) in the last seven minutes of the first quarter. ... Overall in the first half the Thunder shot 56.5 percent and were even better from long range (66.7 percent) on 8-for-12 shooting. ... Garnett was 6-for-7 (15 points) in the first half.

NOT: The Thunder started 1-for-10 (10 percent) and even missed half their free throws in the first five minutes (3-for-6). ... Boston was 4-for-11 (36.3 percent) in the last seven minutes of the first quarter. ... Ibaka was 0-for-4 (0 points) in the first half...Durant was 4-for-13 in the second half.

INSIDE THE ARENA: A lot of green. A few hundred Celtics fans managed to make it inside Chesapeake Energy Arena, by far the most fans for any opposing team at "The Peake" this season.

GOOD MOVE: Rivers told reporters before the game, "we'll probably have to go small a lot" with the Celtics injury situation. Rivers started the game with a small lineup using the 6-6 Pietrus at a forward spot and starting Garnett at center in place of injured Jermaine O'Neal. It worked early as Boston jumped out to a 15-5 lead.

GOOD MOVE TOO: When Brooks put his second unit in late in the third quarter, Rivers opted to go with his starters. That moved prompted a 16-4 run for Boston and cut a 90-64 Thunder lead down to 94-80 going into the final 12 minutes.

BAD MOVE: Celtics backup point guard Avery Bradley, starting in place of the suspended Rajon Rondo, fired a behind-the-back pass to ... no one in the third quarter. He was hoping to hit Pietrus but he was moving toward the left elbow as Bradley sent his pass toward the baseline.

NOTABLE: Oklahoma City has now won 11 straight games at home ... the team's 26-7 record is the second best in franchise history. ...The 35 points scored by the Thunder in the first quarter was the highest output for OKC in a first quarter this season and the most allowed in any first quarter by Boston ... ditto for the 72 first half points scored by OKC and given up by the Celtics. ... Thunder center Kendrick Perkins was whistled for a technical foul in the fourth quarter, his 11th of the season. ...The 31 points for Westbrook marks the first time in his career that he has scored 30 or more in three consecutive games.

UP NEXT: For the Celtics, Feb. 28th @ Cleveland, Feb. 29th vs. Milwaukee, March 2nd vs. New Jersey. For the Thunder, Thursday vs. LA Lakers, Feb. 29th @ Philadelphia, March 1st @ Orlando.

• Celtics: Bass, O'Neal
• Thunder: Maynor, Sefolosha

• Celtics: --
• Thunder: Durant, Ibaka, Perkins

• Lead Changes: 1
• Times Tied: 1

• Arena: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, OK
• Officials: #8 Marc Davis, #56 Mark Ayotte, #54 Nick Buchert
• Attendance: 18203
• Duration: 2:33