The curse of the bunny – OKC Thunder lose to Celts: 5 takeaways
Lethal Thunder quartet:
Catch any NBA coverage and the overriding theme of the Celtics is centered on the killer Celtics trio of Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum, and Jaylen Brown. That triad is each averaging 20 points per game on the season.
Pundits point to how difficult Boston is to defend because on any given night one of the triumvirates can go off and take over the game as can Gordon Hayward.
When referring to the OKC Thunder the narrative is more about the Clutch Time crew but perhaps there is a bit of disserve being done here. The box score from Sunday’s match highlights the fact the Thunder has their own trio of guards but in reality, OKC has a killer quartet when you loop in Danilo Gallinari. The stats tell the story:
Boston Celtics quartet:
- Kemba Walker: 27 points
- Jayson Tatum: 26 points
- Jaylen Brown: 17 points
- Gordon Hayward: 13 points
- Total: 83 points
OKC Thunder quartet:
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 24 points
- Danilo Gallinari: 24 points
- Chris Paul: 22 points
- Dennis Schroder: 22 points
- Total: 92 points
Part of what makes the clutch time crew so successful is the multiple ball handlers on the court. The fact they (plus Gallo) can be earmarked as the primary scoring option makes defending them particularly taxing. Most clubs will have a ‘go-to’ primary option but Billy Donovan can tap anyone to handle those responsibilities.
Chris Paul tends to be regarded as that ‘primary’ but the reality is he’s the player making the decision – – not necessarily always the one taking the shot. That makes for tough defensive work by opponents since they simply don’t know where to put their main defensive efforts.