BOSTON — While the Thunder have the league’s best defense, the Celtics were still getting through with production via the 3-pointer. Through the first half, the C’s even made history as their 36 3-point attempts were the most in any half in an NBA game.
However, the 3s dried up in the second half. The C’s shot just 5-for-27 (18.5%) from deep in the final two quarters as they fell to the Thunder 118-112 on Wednesday at TD Garden. So while the Celtics showed fight by keeping it close, they couldn’t make enough shots to close the gap. Despite that, Celtics big man Al Horford defended why he thought their looks were still a positive even if the 3s didn’t go down.
“I’m pretty happy with it, with us taking those kind of shots with the shooters that we have, and I feel like the vast majority of them were good looks,” Horford said. “We got what we wanted. Our guys drove in the paint, kicked it out, we got the looks.
“There are some games that are going to be like that. I think the first game of the year against the Knicks, we got up a lot, too. So there’s different ways we can go about it, and if we make a few more of those, it’s probably a different story. That wasn’t the case, but I’m OK with that.”
On the night, the Celtics finished 20-for-63 (31.7%) on 3-pointers. The C’s have earned the benefit of the doubt when it comes to their 3-point shooting ways considering they won the title last season. However, it also came down to needing to make more 3s as they continued to put up attempts Wednesday.
The Thunder were also relentless defensively, making life difficult for the C’s. While Horford, Jayson Tatum and Derrick White got their production, the rest of the roster was a different story. Jaylen Brown struggled to the tune of a 5-for-15 night, scoring 10 points, as he couldn’t get a consistent rhythm Wednesday.
The Celtics got a great test as they were swept in the season series against the Thunder. Even if the 3s weren’t going down in the second half, the Celtics scrapped their way to a close game. But Oklahoma City’s been the best team in the West this season, and the Thunder showed the reigning champs their might. So, there were learnable moments for the C’s as they prepare for the playoffs next month.
“It didn’t feel like we took that many 3s,” Brown said. “Maybe it looked like it on TV or watching the game, but it felt like we had a lot of good looks. They were trapping the paint a lot and we got some kick-out 3s, got some paint touches. I was still able to get to the paint and we got some swing-swing. Maybe some 3s we took, we didn’t have too many, maybe was a little ill-advised. But it felt like we got some good looks.”
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