The game was on ESPN, but for those of you who missed it, you missed perhaps the worst fourth quarter in NBA history.
The statistics are almost too graphic to post: by my count, according to the ESPN.com play-by-play, the teams combined to miss their last 22 shots from the floor -- 13 for Oklahoma City, nine for Boston. No one on either side made a basket during the final 9:27. The Thunder spent the final 12 minutes watching Russell Westbrook pound the ball and launch contested, ill-conceived jump shots. Boston was hardly much better, taking turns clanging shots, missing free throws, and turning the ball over.
For what it's worth, I thought Boston's defense was good enough to win -- not just in the fourth quarter, but for the whole game. Sure, the Thunder shot 57 percent from the field, but many of those makes were exactly the kind of shots the Celtics were inviting them to take: lightly-contested jumpshots. With Kevin Durant a late scratch due to an ankle injury, Boston perhaps didn't need to pack it in quite as much as they did, but credit Oklahoma City for making shots they don't usually make. Boston forced some turnovers -- and, after all, conceded only 49 points in the half.
In the third quarter, the Thunder extended its lead -- but mainly due to over-aggressive defense, not necessarily bad defense. Oklahoma City was shooting the penalty with over eight minutes to go in the period, and made 12 of 16 free throws. Boston should have eased up on the pressure a bit once they started the quarter committing so many fouls, but they weren't taking a bunch of stupid fouls or getting beat off the dribble all the time. OKC's shooting started to cool down, though they did make all three three-pointers they took in the period: two by Westbrook with Rajon Rondo's hand right in his face (keep in mind that Westbrook was 2-for-14 behind the arc on the season heading into this game), and a late-in-shot-clock heave by Royal Ivey that went in off the glass after the ball squirted to him when Rondo picked Westbrook twice as Westbrook was trying to drive.
This one, in my view, was lost on offense, and there were a ton of things the Celtics could have done differently to win this game on that end. They started the game out of synch for no particular reason, and never seemed to find any sort of flow. Shaquille O'Neal was a perfect five-for-five when he left the floor with 1:07 remaining in the first; he didn't get another opportunity in the post until 5:18 of the fourth -- a span that included 15 minutes of court time for Shaq, and this despite the fact that no Celtic was having a great game offensively. Ray Allen never got involved, and Glen Davis was so bad that we would have been better off if he hadn't gotten involved. Davis missed three free throws late in the fourth quarter (he was 2-of-6 for the game) and was the major part of a bench unit that was 1-for-10 from the line before making its final three attempts).
Even with all that, Boston still had chances. Allen had a good look at the go-ahead bucket with 30 seconds to go, but it was just a hair short. Delonte West got a great look at the game-tying three from the right corner on Boston's final possession, but couldn't knock it down. It was just one of those nights.
That's what it was, actually: just one of those nights. No lessons to be learned. No shame in losing to a Durant-less Thunder team. Just one of those nights.
Accordingly, here are just some of those bullets with a few discussion points that may be of interest:
- The Thunder opened the game with Westbrook playing several feet off Rondo. This defense is designed to keep Rondo out of the lane and to make it harder for him to get the ball to guys like Allen coming off screens. I think it's silly, but we've seen it before. What we haven't seen before, and what is totally inexplicable in my view, is Westbrook switching off of Rondo when Boston ran its 1-3 pick-and-roll to post Paul Pierce at the free throw line. If you're so unconcerned with Rondo's jumper, then just go behind the screen, hold Pierce up for a count so his man can get back to him, and go back to just chilling out ten feet off of Rondo. This play resulted in at least one ridiculous sequence which culminated in a Rondo layup after James Harden left him completely alone under the basket (presumably to double team, though Harden was basically standing in the middle of the lane, equi-distant from Rondo at the rim and Pierce at the line), and could have resulted in several more baskets on a night that Pierce had it going (he hits that 15-foot jumper over opposing point guards with regularity).
- I think the days of team's leaving Rondo that wide open may be numbered, however. He's been looking for his jumper more this season, taking it with confidence, and making it at what seems like an acceptable rate. My favorite play of this game came late in the second quarter, after Westbrook had just hit a pull-up jumper on Rondo at the other end. Rondo came down and came off a Kevin Garnett screen on the right side of the floor. KG popped to the opposite elbow, which is where he always goes on this play, and Rondo almost always passes him the ball. KG was open, but Rondo stopped and drilled the J. (In real time, I could've sworn that Rondo came off the screen, turned his head and look at a wide-open KG, then turned back and nailed the jumper -- take that, Russell! After rewinding and watching it again, I wasn't so sure that Rondo actually demonstratively looked in KG's direction, but make no mistake -- Rondo knew KG was open. It's not often that I'll praise a point guard for taking a shot when a teammate has a good look, but I loved the moxie and Rondo does need to punish teams for leaving him open.)
- Boston had a few minor injuries. Garnett took an elbow to the head on Boston's first possession, stayed on the floor after a quick 20-second timeout, came out after about three minutes, and then returned to the floor with a cartoon-like lump on the back of his noggin. Pierce left the floor briefly in the third quarter with some sort of leg problem, and could be seen limping in the waning minutes. And Rondo sat out most of the final six minutes after suffering some sort of leg injury in a collision with Ivey. Hopefully, none of these injuries are serious and the affected players won't miss any time.
- Officiating question: In the second quarter, Nick Collison drove to the bucket, drew contact from Semih Erden as he was going up for a shot, then clearly discarded Kevin Garnett with his off arm while laying the ball in. Does anyone know if the refs can wave the basket off in that spot, awarding Collison two shots (since Erden got him in the act of shooting) but not giving him the bucket that he got by virtue of committing an offensive foul? I'm not saying Collison should have been called for a foul -- but you can't just do whatever you want after you've been fouled and still get the continuation, can you?
- Westbrook was more or less a one-man band tonight. As such, he'll get all the credit for the win. Maybe I'm being too hard on the kid given that he didn't have Durant tonight or Jeff Green in either game against the Celtics, but I'm glad he's not on my team -- at least right now. He's a great defender and terrific athlete, and he can score some, but all I've seen him do in two games is pound the ball, take terrible shots, and turn the ball over at a prolific rate. In the eyes of many observers, he's already made a big leap this year, but he won't be elite in my eyes until he learns he has limitations and plays within himself.
- Then again, his teammates (those who played tonight, anyway) should be ashamed of themselves for being the biggest bunch of shrinking violets I've ever seen in the fourth quarter Friday night. You guys are NBA players, for chrissakes. Do something.
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