NBA Recap: Ray Allen scores 19 as the Boston Celtics claim victory against the Oklahoma City Thunders (92-83)
The Boston Celtics added another win to their stash as they thundered past the OKC Thunders at Oklahoma City Arena. The game was enjoyed by a number of 18,203 basketball fans who literally didn’t blink all that 2:10 period of time.
The Boston Celtics led the match 92-83. They impressed the audience with their skilful moves and powerful shots. The game was tied 4 times between both the teams and the lead changed 2 times.
The inactive players from Celtics end were Avery Bradley and Kendrick Perkins whereas Nick Collison, Jeff Green and Byron Mullens were inactive from OKC.
“We can't worry about who's playing or not playing, the guys we have just have to step up,” said Thunders coach Scott Brooks and he was right.
Ray Allen and Paul Pierce were in the spotlight for the 19 and 17 points that they made for their team, the Celtics. Kevin High made his season high 34 points, and Russell Westbrook scored 16 points for OKC.
Jeff Green could not play due to a knee injury that he acquired during practice. Green plays power forward for the OKC Thunders and the team had to manage the game without him.
In the 3rd quarter, Kevin Durant scored 14 points; he was 5-6 and was in the lead of OKC. Russell Westbrook scored 13 points for the Thunders and together this pair flashed the 27 powerful shots for their team. While the Thunders
were igniting the match with their shots, the Celtics missed seven consecutive shots and turned the ball over twice.
The game took a screeching u-turn in favour of the Celtics bringing the Thunders down when Rajon Rondo was successful in stealing the ball from Durant. At that point the game was 19-16 and the Thunders were in the lead of the game
but it turned sides on the Thunders after that. Over the rest of the half, the game was 42-18 with the Celtics leading the game.
A very surprised Celtics coach Doc Rivers later said that they played very well in the first half but did the exact reverse in the 3rd quarter. He also said that veteran teams should not play like that but they got away with that
last night.
The Celtics players Glen Davis, Marquis Daniels, Semih Erden and Nate Robinson were playing very well with 13-23 for 33 glorious points. The Thunders, however, failed to impress as players James Harden, Eric Maynor, Cole Aldrich
and Daequan Cook made their 5-11, for just 12 points.
Eight year old Nolia Sweatt, who is a singing sensation of Oklahoma City, opened up the game with a sweet rendition of the National Anthem. Although there were a very few Celtics fans present to witness their home teams’ win but
still the Celtics made it to the end. Coach of University of Oklahoma Women's Basketball team Sherri Coale was also seen among the many people who enjoyed the game.
Celtics coaches were not in the mood of letting the Thunders win the show as they had already written “Show Durant a crowd” on the white board of the locker room. The Celtics cleverly obeyed and made Durant turn the ball over three
times in the very 1st quarter of the game. Durant was smart enough to take care of turning it over the rest of the game but the Thunders still couldn’t make it in the end.
The rookies of both the teams were in stark contrast to each other. Semih Erden, the Celtics rookie, scored nine points and also winged over four rebounds for his team. On the other hand, poor Cole Aldrich was on the floor for
fourteen long minutes but he missed the only shot that he got. He was, however, successful in grabbing four rebounds for his team.
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