Your School. Your Paper. Since 1936.

The Suffolk Journal

Your School. Your Paper. Since 1936.

The Suffolk Journal

Your School. Your Paper. Since 1936.

The Suffolk Journal

Durant slams 29 as the Thunder Fall Short to the Celtics

Durant+slams+29+as+the+Thunder+Fall+Short+to+the+Celtics

Roy Ben-Joseph  Journal Staff

Entering their 13th game of the 2012/2013 season, the Celtics had a disappointing record of 6-6. As disappointing as the .500 record is, Celtics fans must face the reality. Their team is not as talented as it has been in the past. Losing Ray Allen in the off-season to the Miami Heat was a huge blow, and they are now basing the team on the future Hall of Famer, but aging, Kevin Garnett who is playing his heart out every day on the court, but his playing time has declined in comparison to recent years, and so has the rest of his statistics line. It seems like another year of Paul Pierce taking the C’s on his back, and with Avery Bradley’s return scheduled only in January or late December the earliest, it seems that what is left of the “Big 3” plus Rajon Rondo will be the main hope for the Celtics. As they did last year, the Celtics struggle a lot with defensive rebounds when K.G. or Brandon Bass are resting on the bench.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are coming off their best season in franchise history since moving away from Seattle. The Thunder won the Western Conference title and fell short only to the Heat in the 2012 NBA finals. Kevin Durant, in his fifth season, won his third NBA scoring championship in a row. Durant carried the Thunder throughout the regular season all the way past the Lakers and the Spurs in the playoffs just to fall short to LeBron James and company. Many voices claimed last year that “politics” among voters cost Durant the NBA MVP title.

With the Celtics trying to return to .500, OKC only looked to continue their momentum. Two days before facing the OKC Thunder, the Celtics fell short at home to the San Antonio Spurs, who have the best record in the NBA thus far. The Thunder are competing with the Spurs for the best record in the Western Conference and certainly a win in Boston’s TD Garden would have helped that cause.

After the first quarter, the Thunder already had a 28-21 lead and the game seemed to get away from the C’s. But that changed in a hurry. Boston outscored the Thunder 27-17 in the second quarter and 29-20 in the third.

In the fourth quarter, Durant and company cut the Celtics lead to two points with 1:30 left, but a clutch three point shot by Jason Terry sealed a Celtics 108-100 win over the Thunder.

Durant was responsible for 29 points and was perfect in the free throws section. Russell Westbrook was also solid with 26 points and eight assists. For the Celtics, it was once again their immortal captain Paul Pierce who took things into his own hands, especially in the clutch. Pierce was responsible for 27 points, three steals, four rebounds, and was four for six in three point throws. Pierce, who has played his entire NBA career for Boston, is starting his 15th season in green.

There are some reasons for optimism for both teams going forward, especially for the Celtics. The Thunder do not need to look for any, simply because once again they are one of the top three teams in the NBA, and if nothing surprising or unexpected happens, they will once again be in the mix and go deep in the playoffs.

The Celtics, who struggled just as much last year in the first weeks of the season, have some room to improve. Avery Bradley will return soon and maybe the same team that lacked Ray Allen for many weeks in the 2011/2012 season due to an ankle injury will have the ability to once again go very deep into the playoffs. Let’s not forget, the Celtics were one victory away from winning the Eastern Conference title and going to the NBA finals.

Boston’s biggest asset is on the sidelines. Doc Rivers is one of the best coaches in the NBA; he won the 2008 NBA title with Boston and reached the finals again in 2010. Last year with all the injuries he was the one who coached this Celtics team all the way to the Conference finals. There is no reason why he cannot do it again.

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Durant slams 29 as the Thunder Fall Short to the Celtics