For the second night in a row, the Oklahoma City Thunder found themselves down 20. For the second night in a row, they would not go down quietly.
Effort alone doesn’t win games, but consistent effort certainly puts them in position that they wouldn’t be otherwise. It happened Friday against the Milwaukee Bucks and again on Saturday in the 111-105 loss to the Boston Celtics.
Oklahoma City trailed by 25 more than halfway through the third quarter, but cut the deficit to 15 by the end of the frame. They cut that in half again, getting it down to eight with about 2:30 to play, and then to four with 11 seconds left. It was too late and Boston closed them out.
“These guys, you put something on their plate, they’re going to eat. It’s next man up,” said acting head coach Dave Bliss.
It was OKC’s second game in two nights and fifth in the last seven days. It’s been a daunting stretch. A loss isn’t something to celebrate, but the Thunder have shown they won’t give in, which is a promising sign, particularly with the circumstances of the schedule and Mark Daigneault’s absence on this road trip while his wife is due to give birth.
The Thunder fall to 6-10 on the season. Here are takeaways from the game: