5 takeaways as Celtics give up historic and embarrassing loss to Thunder

The Celtics lost to the Thunder 150-117 on Tuesday, even though the Thunder were without star point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Here are the takeaways.

1. So. How do you sum this one up?

Most of the Celtics players were available, except for Rob Williams and Danilo Gallinari. The Thunder were without Gilgeous-Alexander, who accounts for more than a quarter of their points per game, and they were also without Aleksej Pokusevski, who has started 25 of the 31 games he has played this season.

And yet, the Thunder scored 150 points in regulation — tied for second most the Celtics have dropped in franchise history. Five players (five!) scored 20 or more points. At no point in the fourth quarter was the game competitive. The Celtics, if you ask Joe Mazzulla and anyone who watched, gave up.

The spiral began in the second quarter. With 3:58 remaining, the Celtics were playing in stunning fashion but were within striking distance in just 10. Over the next two minutes, the Thunder went on a 12-1 run and trailed 20 at halftime.

A 20-point one-half deficit is doable, especially since the Celtics have rallied from 15 against the Thunder once this season. Instead of coming out strong, however, the Celtics continued to bleed points into the paint that turned into 3-point rhythm. Although especially downpour zone they fell into one at one point trying to slow the tide of Thunder baskets to the rim, but that didn’t work either. In a third quarter, the Celtics really needed to win, they allowed the Thunder to knock down 8 of 11 3-pointers and score 48 points.

The rest of the game was an extended trash time. The Thunder shot 20 for 40 from 3-point range and 59.2 percent overall.

“It might not be the most popular thing to say, but you have to go through some bullshit if you want to get where we want to go, good or bad,” Joe Mazzulla told reporters after the game. “So we have to go through it and we will be judged on how we handle it.”

Mazzulla also referenced the Celtics’ win over the Suns, which was a near perfect reverse of Tuesday’s game – a 125-97 win that probably said more about the state of the Suns at that time than the Celtics’ dominance. . On Tuesday, Malcolm Brogdon said journalists after the game that the Celtics didn’t take the Thunder as seriously when they learned Gilgeous-Alexander was out.

“Win or lose, there’s a level of humility you have to have in the NBA,” Mazzulla recalled telling the team after the Suns win.

Tuesday’s result was well deserved.

“You go out and take it for granted, that’s what happens,” Jaylen Brown said. “We probably had it coming to us. We pick and choose when we want to play. We weren’t connected, we didn’t have our backs to each other. No defense on the aid side. We didn’t keep our yard.

“And those young boys over there came out and they made us look bad. They embarrassed us. They kicked our ass, and that’s what happened.

2. The Celtics were outscored 70-46 in the paint and 21-9 in transition. Robert Williams’ presence might have helped around the edge, but he was ruled out for ‘injury management’.

Mazzulla said Williams hasn’t experienced any setbacks and periodic rest days will continue throughout the year.

3. Marcus Smart was ejected in the third quarter as the game slipped out of reach. After recovering a technique in the first half, Smart felt he should have earned a trip to the free throw line with 2:46 remaining in the third. As he made his way to the bench, he made what must have been a pointed complaint to referee Lauren Holtkamp, ​​who gave him his second technique.

Smart’s absence had little effect on the game – the Celtics were way behind and showed no signs of life with around 15 minutes to make up 28 points. The ejection, however, didn’t start a fire under the Celtics, who tried and failed to light wet wood all evening.

4. Subtracting Payton Pritchard, who shot 3-for-4 from deep when the game was out of range, the Celtics were 9-for-36 from behind the arc – just 25%. In their last 15 games, they’re 28th in 3-point shooting percentage at 32.2, despite shooting 42.2 3-pointers per game (3rd most in the NBA).

Celtics shooters have been regressing towards the average after an unsustainable start for weeks now, but the sample size suggests something other than the simple law of averages could be happening.

5. The Celtics need to pull themselves together quickly. On Thursday, they travel to Dallas to face Luka Doncic and the Mavericks. Doncic is closing in on Jayson Tatum in the MVP conversation as his numbers hit an absurd 34.3 points, 8.8 rebounds and 8.9 assists per game, leading the Mavericks on a seven-game winning streak.

Even taking into account Tuesday’s loss and their recent shooting slump, the Celtics still have the NBA’s best record, net rating and offensive rating, as well as the 9th best defense. A win on Thursday would go a long way to making Tuesday feel like a yank rather than a flashing warning light.