Boston Celtics: Tanking Thunder embarrass undermanned Cs

The Boston Celtics lost to the 13th seed Thunder 119-115.

They were outplayed all night long by a team that had lost their 14 prior games. What a way to follow up an embarrassing loss to the Hornets — an even more embarrassing loss to Oklahoma City, possibly the worst loss of the season.

You may be thinking, no Jayson Tatum, no Kemba Walker, no Robert Williams, it’s alright if they drop this one…it isn’t. This Thunder team had not won a single game in the month of April, and yet we were the team to let them get one.

There are no excuses for this game; no excuses for going 11-49 from beyond the arc; no excuses for having 13 fewer turnovers than the other team.

On the topic of turnovers, the Thunder had 27while the Boston Celtics had just 14.

However, the Thunder had 29 points off of turnovers, and the Cs had just 18. That means OKC converted on nearly every single turnover, with over two points per possession off of our mistakes.

This type of play is absolutely inexcusable.

Per NBA.com, in the month of April, the Thunder have the league-worst offensive rating at 98.3. That is six whole points worse than the next-worst team, yet we allowed them to score 119 points, the most they have scored since March 14th.

Just because the team clearly missed their stars in Tatum and Walker does not excuse losing to a team with a starting lineup with an average age of 20 years old. The Cs have now lost four of their last five games, and it is in the most crucial part of the season.

They currently sit two games in back of the fourth seed. However, what is more daunting is one more loss, or one more heat win, and Boston is in the play-in. The Celtics are also just 1.5 games removed from being the eighth seed.

Yes, 62 games into the season and the Boston Celtics are closer to being the eighth-seed in the East than the fourth-seed.

It has been an incredibly disappointing season for the Cs and, hopefully, things can turn around in the playoffs, but it looks bleak. However, even though there isn’t much to be happy about, let’s look to some positives on the night.

Boston Celtics trade-acquisition Evan Fournier has a “bounce-back” game:

Although Fournier went just 4-14 from the field, it was good to see him hit some shots. We all know how COVID-19 can negatively affect players, as it has impacted Jayson Tatum for nearly a month.

Fournier in his two games back from COVID, after a near 3-week hiatus, had put up two points on 0-10 shooting in 40 minutes of total action. So, even though not much had been falling for him — tonight included — it was nice to see him put some points on the board, as we are going to need it heading into the playoffs.

He also played some exceptional defense, including multiple plays late where he was truly keeping us in it.

The first play, where he got his fourth steal, was after Payton Pritchard hit a 3-pointer to make it 110-103 with 1:01 left on the clock. Fournier perfectly read the inbounds, got a steal, and made it a two-possession game with a minute left.

Another key steal was with 3.2 seconds left on the clock.

Down by three, Fournier got a steal off another inbounds and was fouled in the process. He made the first free throw, and attempted a purposeful miss with the hope of an offensive rebound.

However, it didn’t go as planned as the Thunder snagged the rebound which, in turn, sealed the game.

Boston Celtics rookie Payton Pritchard had another exceptional performance:

Payton Pritchard has been a diamond in the rough, not just this game, but on the season as a whole.

For many, he was just a filler pick because we were unable to trade the rights. However, who would have thought that he would be on pace to make an All-Rookie team.

Pritchard finished the game with 28 points and four assists in 32 minutes, with 56/40/86 shooting splits. He had the hot hand all night and has continued to solidify himself as a key playoff rotational piece.

19 of his 55 games played have been with a field goal percentage of 60 percent or better. 18 of his 55 games have been in the double digits in points despite playing under 20 minutes a night.

He has been great all season long for this team and will continue to be so throughout the playoffs — that is, assuming the Celtics get there…