Many times throughout the regular season last year, the Celtics barely showed up to play in some games. More often than not, these games were at home for some reason and quite a few of them were on Friday nights. This game seemed to have turned back that clock for (hopefully) just one night.
The C's were seemingly given a gift before the game even started when they learned that potential MVP candidate Kevin Durant (as well as Jeff Green) were out of action. The C's were sleepwalking through most of this game and fell victim to a highly motivated Russell Westbrook. Oklahoma City also made a lot of tough shots while the Celtics couldn't seem to knock down the shots they have been making.
Rajon Rondo first tried to get the crowd and his team going with a monstrous putback slam late in the third. Paul Pierce also had a thunderous dunk on OKC earlier in the quarter but the Celtics just couldn't make shots when they needed to. In the end, a Ray Allen missed jumper coupled with a missed Delonte West corner three sealed the upset victory for OKC. Surprisingly there were some nice things to take from this game, so put on your green tinted glasses and watch the clips below.
Q1: The game begins with a nice tribute to Paul Pierce for scoring his 20,000th point. Doc Rivers presents him with the ball. Other highlights include:
- Kevin Garnett getting whacked in the back of the head on the first play, then plenty of visuals of that nasty bump
- Solid 24 seconds of defense, forcing a rare bad shot by Westbrook
- KG knocking down a jumper
- Another good defensive set, forcing Serge Ibaka into a bad shot
- Ray Allen draining a baseline jumper
- Rondo getting it to Shaq on the break who finishes the quick lay-up
- KG, Perkins and Delonte all having fun on the bench about KG's bump... complete with Mike & Tommy commentary
- Big Baby taking another charge this time James Harden as his victim (he got him in OKC as well)
- Shaq 'doin work in the post
- Rondo earning a Tommy Point and a half, then Pierce finding him all alone in the paint for two
- Pierce with the deflection on defense
- Shaq with the easy lay-in from the Pierce touch-pass
- Ray Ray to Shaq for the alley-oop
- Pierce with the elbow jumper
- Rondo with the behind the back steal, eventually leading to a Ray Allen transition floater
- Shaq with the block on Westbrook
- Pierce finding Shaq for another easy lay-up
- Semih Erden with a nice jump hook
Q2: The second quarter begins with a solid 24 seconds of defense by the second unit forcing Nick Collison to a deep jumper, with Big Baby getting the rebound. Other highlights include:
- Another defensive stop by the second unit, forcing Collison out of bounds
- Semih with a nice pass from the high post finding Marquis Daniels for the lay-up
- Big Baby stepping into the deep jumper for two
- Delonte defending Westbrook, forcing him to throw it out of bounds
- Big Baby taking another charge, this time on Westbrook
- Nate Robinson jumping in the passing lane then coasting for the lay-up
- Rondo clearing out the left side, then blowing by Royal Ivey for two
- A picture perfect, textbook defensive set, highlighted by KG's dominance, eventually forcing the 24-second shot clock violation
- Rondo with the fastball to the back-door cutting Pierce for two
- Rondo slicing his way to the paint, finding a cutting Pierce for two and a foul
- Rondo finding KG who knocks down the toilet-bowl jumper
- Rondo drilling the jump shot
Q3: The second half begins with some good defense forcing Westbrook into a carrying violation. Other highlights include:
- Pierce with the jumper in the paint
- Shaq with the hard foul on Westbrook
- Ray getting it to Pierce in the post, who spins for two
- Westbrook splitting the defense, then meeting Shaq in the paint who steals it from him
- Rondo with another jump shot
- Pierce with the thunderous jam
- Ray with the steal, then hits the floater in transition
- Pierce slashing into the lane then kicking it out to KG for the jumper
- Shaq blocking a Westbrook baseline jumper
- KG steals the inbounds pass, gets it to Rondo who lays it in over Westbrook on the break
- Pierce blocking a James Harden jumper, then breaks out for the transitional lay-up
- Shaq getting called for a controversial blocking foul
- Pierce with the good defense on Harden forcing a bad jumper
- Rondo with the thunderous put-back slam
- Rondo with some excellent one-on-one defense on Westbrook, knocking the ball away twice, the final time to Ivey who banks in a three
- Delonte with the finger-roll
G4: The final quarter begins with Nate finding Big Baby for the banked in jumper. Other highlights include:
- Fantastic defense by the second unit, anchored by Semih's block and hustle
- Nate then knocking down the jumper
- More good defense by the second unit, Semih tipping the rebound
- Another good defensive set by the Celtics second unit
- Semih getting called for the illegal screen, Perk would be proud
- Nate drawing the offensive foul on Ivey
- Semih with more hustle
- Rondo stripping Westbrook but getting called for very questionable foul
- Another great defensive set forcing another 24-second shot clock violation
- Rondo's hamstring injury
- Shaq getting called for a flagrant foul on Westbrook
- A series of solid defensive efforts giving themselves several chances to take the lead
- Ray Allen's missed jumper
- Delonte's missed three
