Celtics vs Thunder

[CaptChris]

The Westbrooke -- Rondo match-up should ber interesting. Two of the best young PG's in the league. Big Question?

Which Celtic team shows up tonight?

[nighthob]

They're pretty much the same player, with the exception that Westbrook is bigger/taller/stronger and a more effective finisher. He's also big enough to run the offense out of the 2 spot, which gives OKC a lot of options.

[LordRC]

For what it's worth...that nice behind-the-back move by Rondo in the lane...it was a travel. It went from his left hand, to his right, to the floor before finishing. I thank my DVR for allowing me to confirm this. It probably was tough to see within all that traffic, but the refs have to do a better job.

61-57 had the half with the Celts shooting something like 70 percent. This is an insane game. I hope Boston can keep up this pace in the second half.

--LordRC

[CaptChris]

Wallace 10 Pts. in 10 minutes. All inside. Fantastic! Oh, he didn't get any rebounds in 10 minutes. OOPS

Let's play this one to the end = 48 minutes.

[LordRC]

It's official to me now. Durant is a superstar. The past two foul calls were garbage.

--LordRC

[setshot33]

This game confirms what we've known for two months now: Pretenders, not contenders.

There is no magical "switch" to flip and no fountain of youth that will make KG magically start finishing alley oops (why do they even bother to run that anymore?) and play lock down D.

Right now, we'd face the Heat if the playoffs started today.

We MIGHT squeak by them and that's about it.

There will be no banner 18 this year or for the forseeable future.

We're staring right down the barrel of 1993.

[CelticSooner]

I only thing tonight confirms is NBA refs hate the Celtics. The barking and moaning has caught up with the C's. Durant went 15/15 from the free throw line, ballgame right there.

Great game otherwise.

[CaptChris]

The greatest comment of the year. The Thunder's Coach has them under control. The Thunder as a team have 14 Technical Fouls for the season. That's the same 14 Technicals that Perk has for the season. Perk -- 14 T's. Thunder -- 14 T's.

Then you wonder why we don't get the calls? Why someone else might?

Very good game. Too many T/O's. Fun game to watch. Wallace was hot. Good shooting. i Rebound in 25 minutes.

[Celtics17]

I don't complain about the officials alot, but that was a bone job.

It's not because the Cs complain that we don't get all the hero calls that guys like Kevin Durant among others get. It's because we don't have any "heroes" in the league's eyes, nobody who needs to be promoted and protected at all costs, no young darling.

Oh well, it will be even tougher in the playoffs. Looks like D-Wade in the first round. We just gotta be ready for it and play through it.

[texascelticsfan]

Durant is an all around classy guy, he's definitely going to be a Ref favorite for years to come. As much as I want to blame the refs for this loss, it was clearly lack of defense/aggressiveness.

They played a game that fit OKC style of play, not the Celtics.

I miss James Posey, we have no one to cover quick SF/PF's. Heck Scaly mightve done a better job keeping up with Durant than Pierce/Marquis did.

Help D was awful.

[Celtics17]

TCF, I agree with you about the help D. Also, the defensive rebounding is still a problem, especially with the second unit. 'Sheed and Baby consistently can't get it done on the defensive glass. And it's hard to keep sticking by the excuse that we can't rebound because we're out of position from helping defensively when the help D isn't there either.

Having acknowledged the shortcomings, I'm still steamed about how the officials played a large part in determining the outcome last night in a negative way for our squad. I'm not even arguing about the overall free throw shooting discrepancy. I realize that an NBA game is what it is, and you have to deal with the way the whistles go, and go out and win the game by yourself.

However, that foul call on Pierce's clean strip of Durant with about 3 minutes left just still sits badly with me after quite a bit of time to decompress. It was an absolute game changer. It looked like the Cs were finally starting to get a little defensive focus down the stretch. Paul actually got rung up for guarding Durant too closely on the previous possession. There was no damage, though, cause Rondo followed it up by finally getting a stop against Westbrook. Then, the captain made that great defensive play on Durant. Unfortunately, he got hit with another errant whistle, and that's where the wind just seemed to leave the sails.

Although, I hate it, I get the treatment that guys like Lebron, Kobe and D-Wade get. Not only is it the league protecting and advancing superstars (which, I think, is definitely a big part of it), it's also that those guys create the calls to some extent. They are so aggresive and so physically dominant that they often make it look like they get fouled even when they don't, and then the refs give the superstars the benefit of the whistle. Not always fair, but a part of the game that has to be prepared for like any other.

Durant is a great player, and I can accept that he's joined that rank of players. But, the guy was a gosh darned jump shooter last night. It wasn't like he was taking it to the hole and forcing the issue. I've seen alot of bail out calls for star players, but that one just kills me.

I don't know, maybe another part of it is the lack of respect for Paul Pierce. Yes, he's struggled this year with injuries, and he's not what he used to be, but he's been bringing himself back over the course of the last month or so, and is starting to look like he might be ready to do some heavy lifting into the post-season. Then, the damn' refs treat him like he's friggin' Jerry Stackhouse or some other washed up, marginal, old, has-been, almost-was, dime-a-dozen wing man because he's guarding the next, big thing, this centuries version of the Ice Man. Maybe they shoulda called a foul on him two years ago when he stepped in to steal the tip from Lebron to seal game seven against the Cavs in the playoffs. Hey, I think he might have brushed into him on that one. Then we'd still be looking at 25 years since our last championship. O.K., I'm foaming at the mouth, and rambling more than just a little bit, but it makes me so angry I could spit. ARGHH!!

C'mon, guys! Show me something going in to the playoffs. I know the league's turned against you, as well as the refs, as well as the media, as well as the fans. Old, counted out, disrespected, loathed, in many cases, but still my basketball team.

F Kevin Durant. Oooh he's such a nice guy, so humble, so down-to-earth, so genuine," such a nice kid" (shut up, Gorman), loves Oklahoma City and the good people there, and he's a great basketball player and a better person. Screw that! All I know is that he's a prick, who got some calls that he shouldn't have against my beloved Celtics last night, and for that, I can't frigging' stand him.

[texascelticsfan]

The guy has 40 Games where he has scored over 30 points this season, uh yeah, he's at the LeBron level (the only other player to do so). He's also starting to play better D and include his teammates, so this is definitely Durant moving into the Elite realm (not that we didnt know he would, just not this quickly). Larry Bird was also a "jump shooter", so that one doesnt work either.

37 Points on incredible shooting 10-20 (.500 FG%) 2-5 (.400 3P%) 15-15 (1.000 FT%) and 8 Rebounds, against the #1 Defensive Team in the league...give the kid some credit.

There are too many excuses from this team, they need to step up and play Defense not whine about the refs or whatever. Its put up or shutup time.

Atlanta beat the Lakers, the whole tie-breaker thing is going to be moot soon.

[Celtics17]

You missed my point. I agree that Durant is a great player and even wrote that "he's joined that rank of players (like Kobe, Lebron and D-Wade)."

We lost the game, and we can't afford to lose too many more. And, yeah, at this point, excuses won't earn us the 3 seed.

However, for today I'm still feeling like we got jobbed last night. Yes, it still took two contested threes by Jeff Green, wide open misses by Ray and 'Sheed, and Rondo missing the first jump shot he's taken in a month and a half for us to lose this one after that horrific call against Paul Pierce, but I reserve the right to pissed about it.

[texascelticsfan]

Except for a little time in the 3rd, the Thunder were killing the C's the entire game. As much as the ref's helped them out, the C's helped them out more by playing a game that suited OKC not Boston. As much as I "respect" Kristic and Collison and the D-League guy they brought up, this shouldnt have been a close game.

KG got burned on the same screen by Kristic twice, and if he was "helping off of Green", then where was Ray or whomever shouldve switched?

If they kept the Thunder in the 90's, they wouldve won. I also hate when people judge ref's just on FT's. There were 21 PF's called on the Thunder and 25 called on the Celtics, which doesnt sound as egregious as the 34-17 FT advantage. One of their players FOULED OUT of the game, only Pierce had 5 PF's for the C's.

Losers moan about the outcome of the game the next day.

[texascelticsfan]

This is why Perk is the man:


“Frustrating game, thought we played bad on the defensive end tonight. Guys missed assignments that were suppose to be there, a lot of missed assignments tonight add up to a 6 or 7 point loss. They got to the line whenever, we just fouled, we were late on rotations, so we didn’t play no defense tonight.”

When asked about the free throw disparity, Perk gave credit to The Thunder, rather than complaining about the calls.


“Nah, they were being aggressive. I thought Durant was a crafty player. He’s a scorer in this league, he’s averaging almost 30, he gets to the line, he did what he had to do. Everyone else fed off of him.”

On how his injury has affected him on the floor the past few weeks, again making no excuses:


“You know, a lot of people play with injuries. If I’m out there, I’m out there. A lot of people have bumps and bruises here and there too.”

[Celtics17]

Except for a little time in the 3rd, the Thunder were killing the C's the entire game. As much as the ref's helped them out, the C's helped them out more by playing a game that suited OKC not Boston. As much as I "respect" Kristic and Collison and the D-League guy they brought up, this shouldnt have been a close game.

KG got burned on the same screen by Kristic twice, and if he was "helping off of Green", then where was Ray or whomever shouldve switched?

If they kept the Thunder in the 90's, they wouldve won. I also hate when people judge ref's just on FT's. There were 21 PF's called on the Thunder and 25 called on the Celtics, which doesnt sound as egregious as the 34-17 FT advantage. One of their players FOULED OUT of the game, only Pierce had 5 PF's for the C's.

Losers moan about the outcome of the game the next day.

I accept the refereeing for the bulk of the game, it's really only a couple of calls down the stretch that really gall me. Those calls on Pierce against Durant really changed the whole tenor of the game.

Hey, we might have lost anyway, but I'd rather we were given a sporting chance.

Anyway, despite that embarrassing loss to the Spurs the other night and last night's heartbreaker, I feel like this team is on the brink of where they need to be come playoff time.