The Celtics take on the Thunder for the second time this season tonight, and are looking for their tenth win of the season. The last time these two faced off, Oklahoma City's star point guard Russell Westbrook was shut down for much of the game by our own star point guard, Rajon Rondo. Needless to say, The Celtics came out on top, the way they typically do when facing offenses that are fueled by a single star player. By minimizing Westbrook's presence on the court, Kevin Durant can only do so much damage, and Boston should be able to hold him down just enough to create a LeBron James effect where he will put together great fantasy basketball numbers, but his team will come up short. Boston's defense, veteran leadership, and depth will be the key differences in this matchup. Not to mention dominance in the paint. The Thunder's starting big men do not match up well against any of Boston's big men, and while the Celtics' points will not neccessarily all come from down-low, very few of Oklahoma City's should. Jeff Green is very athletic and explosive for a big man, but is injured, and even if he plays, he and the rest of the Thunder's big men will get outmuscled on the boards against bigger guys, like Shaq and Big Baby. As for depth, Delonte West had a very solid first game back for the Celtics the other night against the Wizards, and Boston's bench seems to be finally coming together the way they should have been eleven games ago. I trust Doc to find a way to make it all work out in terms of creating both scoring and point guard opportunities for both Nate Robinson and West, and the backup big men should keep chipping in solid minutes off the bench.
Both of these teams are very talented, but I expect Boston to come out on top, largely because they are so well-meshed as a team compared to others around the NBA. The Thunder know that Durant is their star player, and that he led the league in scoring last year, and they love to win games fueled by his and Westbrook's explosive style of offense. If Rondo can shut down Westbrook while still putting up tons of assists, then Kevin Durant's numbers alone will not be enough to propel the Thunder to victory. Look for Paul Pierce to keep racking up the points while the Celtics pick up their tenth win tonight, and assert themselves even further in the power rankings.
Scal - your analysis was again spot-on, but the game was very strange. Westbrook was absolutely the key to OKC's win, but without Durant it took a complete lack of continuity and "give a crap" attitude on the part of the C's to lose this. I thought Westbrook kept OKC ahead in the first half with the help of a lack of D by by the Celts. Second half was a whole different issue. For some reason Westbrook stopped playing his game and the Thunder kept running the same ineffective play over and over. Trouble was the Celtics were even worse. It was the worst overall half of basketball I've seen from them since last April's debacle against Wizards at the Garden when they went down 45-19. OKC could have done exactly that except they were just as bad. Combined 4 FGs by both teams in the fourth had to be close to a record because you can't get fewer than zero. Anyway, after a perfect night against Washington the other night I guess they decided they could take a night off.
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