Four takeaways as Celtics blown out by Thunder 150-117 in defensive letdown

The Celtics played one of their worst halves of the season, then they followed it up with an even worse quarter coming out of halftime. The C’s were unable to climb out of a massive deficit as they stumbled to the Thunder in a 150-117 loss Tuesday in Oklahoma City.

While the Celtics matched the Thunder’s offensive firepower through the first quarter, the game fell apart in the second quarter. It never recovered from there. The C’s fell behind by as many as 37 points as the Thunder hit plenty of shots. Boston lost its second straight game to fall to 26-12 on the season.

There were a few spurts where the Celtics at least tried to threaten to close the gap, but the Thunder’s youngsters were plenty confident shooting the ball. That led to an insurmountable deficit as the Celtics had few answers for the Thunder. To make matters worse, the Thunder were without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who sat because of a non-COVID illness.

Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 29 points on 11-for-18 shooting as he was a minor bright spot. Jayson Tatum had another 27 points. Josh Giddey had 25 points, five rebounds and five assists for the Thunder. Oklahoma City also had seven players in double figures as they spread around the scoring without Gilgeous-Alexander.

The Celtics continue their road trip when they take on the Mavericks at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Dallas. Here are four takeaways from Boston’s loss to Oklahoma City:

Porous defense

Sure, the Thunder hit some tough shots. But the Celtics’ defense was nonexistent for most of Tuesday’s game as they fell apart. The Thunder followed up a 40-point second quarter with a 48-point third as they ran the C’s off the court. Boston had a solid offensive night, but allowing 122 points through three quarters is a losing formula. The Thunder finished shooting 59.8% from the field. It got to the point where the C’s dabbled with zone defense. But the Thunder kept soaring for huge dunks as they also put up 70 points in the paint.

Frustrating night

Just about nothing went right for the Celtics. It seemed like every time they made a mistake, the Thunder were there to punish the visitors. That led to plenty of feel-good highlights for the home squad while the Celtics shook their heads in disbelief. That frustration also led to Marcus Smart’s ejection with 2:46 left in the third quarter as he picked up his second technical foul jawing with a referee. The ejection summed up the Celtics’ night in the blowout loss.

Shooting difference

The Celtics have stressed all season they can’t let their missed shots affect their defense. But that happened once again in Tuesday’s loss. The off-mark 3-pointers piled up early aside from a few makes in garbage time to boost the percentages. The Thunder also found some confidence launching away from deep as they hit multiple 3s to bury the Celtics. Boston shot 30% from beyond arc while Oklahoma City finished at 50%.

Bouncing back

The Celtics have opened 2023 with a pair of tough losses where the defense wasn’t up to par. But they won’t have too much to dwell on Tuesday’s loss as they have another two games on their road trip. Next up, too, is Luka Doncic and the Mavs. That’s going to be a marquee matchup between Doncic vs. Tatum as Dallas is going to look to avenge its loss in Boston earlier this season. Doncic has also been on tear recently to get the Mavs some wins. It doesn’t get much easier for the Celtics as they look to snap their losing streak.

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