Rare event as OKC Thunder lose to Celtics in clutch time – grades

Chris Paul was his at his best in this afternoon match and while the result wasn’t ideal it doesn’t diminish his effect.

Down the stretch, as the Celtic’s appeared poised to pull away he kept the Thunder in it via his intelligent game management, timely pull-ups and recognizing where the best shot lied on the court at any given moment.

One play stood out where it appeared he wanted Schroder to shoot the triple but instead Dennis drove and got bodied by Theis to miss the layup. They had an exchange on the court immediately after where it seemed CP3 was explaining his thought process.

Although Paul could force his hand, and perhaps if this had been a playoff match he would’ve. The reason this group works is that they trust each other and function as a team. With 29 games remaining prior to the playoffs they’ve got time to iron out these kinks in preparation for the postseason.

He finished with 22 points, five rebounds, five assists, and two steals.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is having a wonderful season and showcasing to the fan base why there is a reason to be stoked for the future of the franchise.

In each game, we revel over the ease with which he executes and the skillset that appears to come so easy to the sophomore. Games like this remind of how adept his defensive skills are and the fact he never forces the issue.

Getting a ton of defensive attention from Brad Stevens crew there wasn’t one shot that felt forced and his length posed repeated issues for the Celtics players.

He got the better of the matchup versus Jaylen Brown on this day (albeit, Brown didn’t look to be 100 percent and tweaked something midway through)

He finished with 24 points, six rebounds, and four assists. His efficiency was sharp connecting on 8 of 12 from the field and 3 of 4 from the perimeter.