The Oklahoma City Thunder might be good. More importantly, they’re definitely fun!
After coming into Monday night as double-digit underdogs against the league-best record Boston Celtics, the Thunder made it a full four-quarter game.
With the Thunder leading by as many as 15 points, the Celtics needed to outscore the Thunder, 37-26, in the fourth quarter to avoid the upset loss against a young squad whose inexperience was on full display in the final 18 minutes.
In that span, the Thunder scored 39 points on an efficient 15-of-31 (48.4 percent) shooting but committed 12 (!!) turnovers.
For perspective, the Thunder had 19 turnovers in the game, and the Celtics had just four during the final 18 minutes.
The Thunder looked discombobulated at times with the self-inflicted turnovers. It was clear the youngest roster in the league is still learning how to close games in tough road environments. Nonetheless, a bad 18 minutes should not take away from an impressive 30.
The Thunder went into TD Garden expected to lose to arguably the best team in the league and instead took the fight to them.
While it’s a loss, not all losses are equal. In this case, losing against the Celtics is not a loss the Thunder should be down on themselves about. While it might not be clear in the immediate aftermath after blowing a seven-point lead to enter the fourth quarter, they should be proud of their effort in this game.
The Thunder are young and inexperienced. The Celtics are battle-tested and one of the oldest teams in the league. This is how games like these are supposed to play out.
The Thunder, who have been the laughingstock over the last couple of years for egregious tanking, stepped up in the brightest stages in Madison Square Garden and TD Garden on a back-to-back.
After three seasons of being overlooked and circled as an easy win in the opposition’s calendars, performances like these go a long way in changing the Thunder’s reputation around the league.
Considering all five Thunder starters played at least 33 minutes and nobody off the bench played more than 19, let’s take a look at Thunder player grades for the five starters.