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Key Moment
Kyrie Irving produced plenty of offense Sunday afternoon at TD Garden, where he put forth 30 points and 11 assists against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Yet, in the end, it was his clutch defense that helped Boston put a halt to an OKC comeback attempt on Super Bowl Sunday.
The C's led 129-128 with 16.2 seconds left in the game when Jayson Tatum earned a trip to the line to try to put them up by three. He made the first, but the second attempt clanked off the rim and fell right into the hands of Russell Westbrook.
Like a running back searching for pay dirt, Westbrook barreled upcourt at full speed, looking to tie the game.
However, just as Westbrook was crossing the 3-point arc, Irving stuck his hand out and stripped his opponent like a safety. Westbrook lost his handle and fumbled it forward right into the hands of Al Horford. The veteran big man quickly dumped the ball off to Tatum, who was immediately wrapped up by Steven Adams with 7.4 seconds left.
Redeeming his missed free-throw from a few moments earlier, Tatum sunk both attempts from the line to give Boston a 132-128 lead. That gave the C's enough room to breathe, as it walked away with a 134-129 victory over the No. 3 defense in the NBA.
Key Player
Kyrie Irving and Russell Westbrook weren't just the focal points in the biggest moment of Sunday's game. Their point guard battle was the centerpiece of the entire contest.
Westbrook stuffed the stat sheet with a triple-double consisting of 22 points, 16 assists and 12 rebounds, while Irving tallied a double-double of 30 points and 11 dimes. Irving, though, had the edge in this matchup for a few reasons.
For one, he was far more efficient than Westbrook. Both players attempted 19 field goals, but Irving connected on 14 to Westbrook's eight. The Celtics also benefitted more from Irving's presence, as they outscored the Thunder by five points when he was on the court. OKC, meanwhile, experienced a five-point disadvantage when Westbrook was on the court.
And, as we mentioned in the key moment, Irving was also far more impactful in the clutch. Without his strip of Westbrook in the closing moments, the C's could've easily been looking at a different end result.
Box Score Nuggets
- Boston shot a season-best 59.3 percent from the field.
- Kyrie Irving had his fourth 30-point, 10-assist game of the season, as he tallied 30 points and 11 dimes.
- Paul George led all scorers with 37 points.
- Russell Westbrook led the game in both rebounds (12) and assists (16).
- The C's dished out 36 assists as a team, falling just one helper shy of their season-high.
- Boston's scoring total of 134 points was also one shy of its season-high.
- All five Celtics starters scored in double-figures. Three of their four reserves also scored at least 10 points.
- Jayson Tatum logged a game-best plus-11 rating.
- All nine of OKC's participants logged at least one steal.
- The Thunder scored 37 fast-break points to Boston's 15.
- Boston had a 58-56 scoring edge in the paint.
Quote of the Night
Brad Stevens on the C's getting scoring contributions from all involved.