BOSTON — Jaylen Brown caught the basketball near the wing before spinning to his left, blowing past his defender toward the hoop. A green runway was between Brown and the basket, forcing his opponent to rotate into help defense. It didn’t faze the Celtics’ superstar, who rose to the rim to complete a left-handed slam over Jaylin Williams with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander standing nearby.
As Brown landed, the TD Garden crowd stood on its feet. Even the Celtics’ bench was in awe of what they had just witnessed, many of whom attempted to restrain one another in the bench area. Brown’s eyes shifted to a distant point in the stands in front of him. Intensely staring, he put his thumb near his neck, concluding before slashing across his throat.
Perhaps he knew the Thunder weren’t dead yet.
Reflecting on the moment he gave the Celtics a 77-75 lead late in the third quarter, Brown said postgame it was important he didn’t finish the gesture. His desire to avoid a fine from the NBA was implied through his cheek-to-cheek smile.
“I stopped it, though,” said Brown, stressing the importance of not completing the motion.
Although the defending NBA champions tied the game on the next possession before trailing by single digits in the fourth quarter, Brown’s dunk gave the Celtics a lead they wouldn’t give up. It yielded a 119-109 win over the Thunder, whose 12-game winning streak was snapped.
Here are five takeaways from Boston’s impressive win over Oklahoma City.
“I think that game was awesome,” Brown said. “The intensity level of the game was very high. It felt like a playoff game. The crowd was into the game.”
MVP race heating up
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Wednesday was the second time this season — separated by only two weeks — that Brown matched up with Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning NBA MVP.
Gilgeous-Alexander got the best of Brown in Oklahoma City, where the Celtics lost a tightly contested 104-102 battle without Jayson Tatum or Derrick White. The two stars went toe-to-toe against each other, as Brown’s 34 points were only one-upped by Gilgeous-Alexander’s 35 points, which occurred on a hyper-efficient 13-of-18 mark from the field.
A similar script was followed at the Garden, where Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 33 points, two rebounds and eight assists. Although Brown failed to outscore Gilgeous-Alexander again, he wouldn’t be denied a win on his home floor. Still, Brown posted an all-around performance, recording 31 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. He primarily focused on driving to the basket, opening up free throw opportunities. He drilled 12 of his 14 attempts at the line, while making one of his three 3-pointers.
Even after an impressive performance in front of his hometown crowd, Brown’s NBA MVP odds are a long shot on most sportsbooks. He is +15000 to win the award on DraftKings, which has Gilgeous-Alexander favored at -800.
Luka Doncic and Victor Wembanyama are more likely to win the award than Brown at many sportsbooks. Doncic and Wembanyama have played in 60 and 57 games, respectively. Brown has played in 64 of the Celtics’ 72 games.
Perhaps a player who is not being discussed enough as a legitimate threat to win the award is Nikola Jokic, who is averaging an astonishing 27.9 points, 12.7 rebounds and 10.7 assists per game. Jokic, who missed 16 games with a bone bruise in his hyperextended left knee earlier this season, cannot miss one of the Nuggets’ final eight games to become eligible for regular-season awards. The NBA implemented a 65-game minimum for players to qualify for all-NBA teams and other regular-season awards. If Jokic misses one more contest, he will fall short of the threshold.
“[The Thunder are] very physical,” Brown said. “So if you don’t come, if you don’t own your space, if you don’t fight to get open, if you don’t set up your catches, none of that stuff. If you don’t do that, they can make it a long night, but I thought we did a good job of keeping our man between the ball and the basket, protecting it, getting the ball where we wanted to get the ball, initiating our offense where we want to initiate it, versus them, dictating where we go. And I think that was a difference tonight.”
Tatum’s minutes increasing
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Tatum played 35 minutes against the Thunder, marking a new season-high in minutes played. He has been on a minutes restriction since returning from an Achilles injury, steadily increasing from 27 to 32 minutes since his return on March 6.
It is still possible a minutes restriction — albeit a small one — is still in place for Tatum, but it is a clear sign of positive progression as the Celtics prepare for the postseason.
Facing the Thunder — the top defensive rating squad in the league — and Lu Dort, Tatum posted impressive numbers in his team’s 10-point win. He scored 19 points and captured 12 rebounds to record his fifth double-double of the season. He flirted with his first triple-double of the year, falling short with seven assists.
Tatum’s also shot the ball at a much better rate than his previous two games, knocking down five of his 12 attempts. He was 6-of-16 against Minnesota and 3-of-15 at Memphis.
If anyone had lingering questions about Tatum’s athleticism post Achilles surgery, he may have provided his best example against the defending champions. Head coach Joe Mazzulla used Tatum at center when he opted for a smaller lineup, allowing Tatum the opportunity to rise up and block Dort’s layup at the rim.
“I felt like that was a great, encouraging game for JT,” Brown said. “High-level, intensity, physical team. It felt like that was a step in the right direction. We (are) still encouraging him to get back to that level of aggression that we know and are used to. But I think today was a great game of him making the right plays, making the right reads, being physical and being Jayson Tatum.”
Scheierman, bench show up big
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The Celtics trailed through most of the first 36 minutes of the game. Their starters began their comeback efforts in the second quarter, but they would need their supporting cast to enter the spotlight if they were to become serious in their comeback efforts.
Insert Baylor Scheierman.
The 6-foot-6 guard nailed a crucial 3-pointer in the third off the bench, bringing the Celtics within two points. He gave them a 74-73 lead when he drilled another 3 a few minutes later, marking their first second-half advantage.
Scheierman finished with 11 points — all scored in the second half — with an efficient 4-of-8 performance from the floor and a 3-of-7 clip from deep.
“I thought Baylor was great in his shot making,” Mazzulla said. “He was great defensively on his matchup. He’s a guy that just makes plays.”
Others on the bench provided scoring for Boston, including Payton Pritchard. The Oregon alum scored 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting with a 4-for-6 mark from behind the arc. It helped the Celtics’ bench contribute 35 points in their come-from-behind effort.
Taking advantage of offensive rebounds
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The Celtics managed to score 19 second-chance points on only seven offensive rebounds against the Thunder, who allow the seventh fewest second-chance points (14.5) per game in the NBA. Oklahoma City gives up 9.5 offensive rebounds per game, the second fewest in the league.
Those extra opportunities helped the Celtics storm back into the game, as 11 of those 19 points occurred in the second half. Brown, who was the only Boston player with two offensive rebounds, was one of six players with at least one board on their offensive end.
What’s Next?
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The Celtics will have one day off before returning to action Friday against the Hawks at the Garden.
Since the NBA trade deadline, the Hawks have become one of the hottest teams in the NBA. Sitting in ninth place in the Eastern Conference, Atlanta opted to send Trae Young, its franchise star, to Washington on Jan. 9 for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert. The move proved vital, willing the team to fifth place in the conference — one game above the seventh-seeded 76ers — thanks to a 16-5 record. It has the fourth most wins since Feb. 5, and its 7.9 NET rating is the fifth best over that stretch.