Yesterday was one of those wins that could easily have been a loss. OKC was playing hard and the Celtics looked out of sorts, especially defensively, especially in the first half. The Celtics would fall behind, go on a short run to catch up, and then fall behind again. OKC was getting into the paint and getting a lot of wide open threes, while the Celtics were bricking a lot of early clock threes.
With less then 3 minutes to go in the third, the Celtics fell behind by 12 and Mazzulla put Pritchard in for Smart. Keyed by him and Derrick White, the cranked up the defense and went on an 8-3 run to close out the quarter. Defensive pressure from the Celtics firced a lot of OKC turnovers and let the Celtics climb back into this one.
Marcus Smart had had a terrible first half (2 points, 3 fouls, and a -17 in 12 minutes). He was better in the third, leading the Celtics in scoring in the quarter with 10 points on 4-7 shooting. Then, with about 6 minutes to go in the 4th and the Celtics down by 2, he just took over the game. SGA misses a shot, Smart grabs a key rebound leading to a Brown missed three. Smart pressures SGA bring the ball up and SGA commits an offensive foul (embellished by Smart). On the ensuing possession, OKC drops into a 1-2-2 zone, and Smart zips one in to Tatum in a soft spot for an easy dunk to tie the game at 107. Smart is fouled on the next possession and hits one of 2. After an SGA "and one" puts OKC back ahead, Smart goes into the post and hits a 9-footer to tie again. After a free throw and a layup by Tatum gets the lead up to 3, SGA scores to cut it to one. OKC has a good defensive series, but the Celtics manage to kick it to Smart in the corner for a late clock, foot on the line, 2, to increase the lead to 3. Then Tatum tries to drive and the ball is knocked away... but Smart recoveres the loose ball and drills a three (his only 3 of the game, on 2 attempts). Smart adds a layup and 2 assists to White in the final minutes to keep the Celtics ahead. FInishes with 22 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 turnovers. He said that omn the sidlelines, Blake told him that there were opportunities in the post for him, and that is indeed where he was most effective.
Tatum shot poorly (9 of 23 and 1 of 9 from three, but got to the line 10 times) and scored 27 points, 10 rebounds, an assist, 3 steals, and 3 blocks. Brown scored 26 on 11-21 shooting (0-5 from three) and added 6 rebonds and 6 assists but also tunred it over 5 times. Horford had a 12-11 double double and added 4 assists. Grant was nothing special in this one.
Derrick White and Paytom Pritchard were the key guys in this game who helped turn the team around. In 33 minutes, White had 16 points on 5-9 shooting, plus 5 assists and a team-leading 4 steals. Pritchard had 10 points, 4 rebounds, and a pair of steals. Hauser's shooting struggles continue (he airballed a three), but he shot 2 of 5 from three overall. Kornet and Vinleh did not play much or accomplish much.
The officiating was lousy in this game, highlighted by a quick technical on Tatum that will surely be rescinded.