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Key Moment
It didn't take long for the Celtics to silence the Thunder Saturday night, as they built an early lead over Oklahoma City at TD Garden and never looked back.
OKC took its first and only lead of the game at the 8:01 mark of the first quarter when it went up 8-7 on a Derrick Favors jumper. But that lead lasted all of 15 seconds before Boston snagged it back and went off on a 9-0 run.
Jayson Tatum and Dennis Schroder accounted for all nine of those points, trading buckets back and forth over a three-minute stretch. And all four of their shots were assisted, which was a consistent first-half trend for the C's, who logged assists on 17 of their 22 field-goal makes ahead of the break.
OKC went nearly four minutes without a field goal, and in that time the Celtics went from being down 8-7 to up 16-8.
Boston would get out in front by as many as 25 points before OKC cut into the deficit during garbage time. However, the C's maintained their lead throughout, never allowing the Thunder to pull within a single possession, and walked away with a 111-105 victory for their second win in as many nights.
Key Player
It's safe to say that Jayson Tatum's shooting slump is a thing of the past.
The All-Star wing went off against the Thunder for 33 points on 11-of-22 shooting from the field, marking the third straight game in which he scored at least 30 points while making at least half of his field-goal attempts.
The last time he experienced such a stretch was from April 28 through May 2 of last season, which was the same stretch that included his franchise-record-tying 60-point game.
Tatum also tied his season-high with six 3-point makes on 12 attempts and shot 5-of-7 from the free-throw line.
Along with his game-leading scoring total, he corralled eight rebounds, dished out five assists, and committed just one turnover in 33-plus minutes of action, during which the C's outscored the Thunder by 22 points.
Box Score Nuggets
- Jayson Tatum scored agame-high 33 points, which was more than twice the scoring total of any Thunder player..
- Dennis Schroder wasn't far behind with 29 points on 13-of-22 shooting from the field.
- OKC had four players score between 12 and 16 points.
- Al Horford (10 points, 11 rebounds) and Enes Kanter (10 points, 10 rebounds) logged nearly identical double-doubles.
- Horford's double-double was nearly a triple-double, as he also dished out seven assists.
- Marcus Smart led the game in the assist department with eight helpers.
- Smart also posted a game-best plus/minus rating of +23 in 34-plus minutes of action.
- There were only nine steals in the game – four for the Celtics and five for the Thunder.
- OKC attempted eight more field goals than Boston, but made two fewer.
- Boston committed only seven turnovers, while OKC committed just nine.
- OKC held a lead for only 15 seconds early in the first quarter.
Quote of the Night
Al Horford on Boston's developing offense