Game 4 Recap: Boston 96, Oklahoma City 83

Somebody forgot to tell PJ it wasn't 80s night. Still, I wish I had that jacket-tie combo.

Yahoo! Box Score

Well, the master picker strikes again. His 95-81 prediction was only off by a total of 3 points. Again, why go anywhere else?

So, The Thunder played valiantly tonight. And, what's better, they didn't look like the typical "young team" at all. Let me elaborate.

The first quarter was epic. We lead the Celtics almost all the way through, and even though they didn't look stunned, the fans sure were happy. The 2nd and 3rd quarter saw our lead slowly diminish into a 12-17 point deficit. But, unlike most young teams, who completely give up in the 4th, we stayed strong. In fact, a couple more defensive stops, and the game might've been ours.

But when it's all said and done, the Celtics just had better ball movement. They usually did one of two things: 1. Kick it out to Ray Allen/any other sharpshooter. 2. Make a gaping hole in the centre of the lane and watch the generally quicker Celtics make an easy layup.

On top of that, our big men were really mismatched. Joe Smith is known for his hustle, rebounding, and offense, but his defense is slightly below par. And he was getting burned by Kevin Garnett all night. Nick Collison and Chris Wilcox didn't far much better. Johan Petro tried his best, but he was getting scored on down low even by Kendrick Perkins. If the Thunder tried to double team, the other team would just pass it to the other big man for an easy two. Not a good picture.

The face of confidence.

The small men were equal in driving, but Ray Allen and Paul Pierce could shoot 3s, unlike our plethora of non-shooting small men. Even if our guys could shoot 3s, it wasn't helped by the fact that we were giving heavy minutes to Earl Watson. Earl Watson is sometimes notorious for bad jumpshots or ill-concieved drives to the basket. Rajon Rondo, on the other hand, is known for his excellent defense and slick passing. Is the picture becoming slightly clearer now?

Paul Pierce is satisfied because nobody takes pictures of any Celtic but him Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen.

All of that being said, tonight really was an off night for the Celtics. Ray Allen and Paul Pierce both shot terribly, and Kevin Garnett just didn't look like the dominating force he usually is. Rajon Rondo did what he uaually does and was extremely efficent with 100% field goals and 11 assists, but tonights Thunder Plunderer has to go to Leon Powe. With 11 Points, 3-6 Shooting, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and a +18 +/- ratio in 18 minutes, he really helped out his team tonight. He was a big reason that the Celtics took a commanding lead in the 3rd, and it was clear he was giving it his all while everybody else looked lackluster or disinterested.

On the Thunder side of the ball, nobody deserves the Thunder Wonder Award. I'm serious, nobody. This is partially because today was mostly a defensive effort and partially because almost everybody had a horrible day offensively. But, it has to be given to someone, so here goes. The only people who might even remotely deserve it are Earl Watson, Johan Petro, Chris Wilcox, Joe Smith, and Desmond Mason. Desmond Mason had a horrible +/- ratio, so he's out. Johan Petro was extremely efficent offensively (4-5) but he totally sucked defensively and had a measly 1 rebound, so he's out. Chris Wilcox and Joe Smith performed almost identically, but neither of them quite up to the standard of Earl Watson, who is tonights Thunder Wonder. 7 Points, 7 Rebounds, and 5 Assists sounds like a typical Mike Dunleav, Jr. scoring line, but not for a 6' 1" Point guard. He couldn't do much offensively, but his sheer amount of heart, hustle, and hardwood gets Earl Watson the Thunder Wonder Award tonight. This is the first time this season he's really outperformed Russell Westbrook, so he should be proud.

The Thunder Down Under award then, by logic, goes to either Wilcox (5 Points, 2-5 Shooting, 8 Rebounds) or Smith (9 Points, 4-9 Shooting, 5 Rebounds). Trying to decide is pretty much splitting hairs. It's all a matter of if rebounds or points matter more. The thing is, I think that Joe Smith came through in more critical times. He had some pretty fancy shots in the 4th, and one of his missed shots was a halftime lob. Still, he forced himself into bad one-on-one situations, and, again, got torched defensively by Garnett. But, in the end, Wilcox missed a freethrow, Smith got the same amount of offensive rebounds, and Wilcox was torched equally as bad defensively. So, the Thunder Down Under Award goes to Joe Smith.

Now, the Thunder Blunder. For me, it's between Russell Westbrook and Nick Collison. Now, you may be saying "But Russell Westbrook got 13 points!" Well, 6 of those were meaningless. He hit 2 meaningless, undefended 3s at the end of the game. Now, his stats, instead of being 13 Points, 4-13 Shooting, 5 Rebounds, 1 Assist, and 1 Steal, it's 7 Points, 2-11 shooting, 5 Rebounds, 1 Assist, and 1 Steal. A whole lot less impressive, huh? Still, his lack of assists are made up by his rebounds, which are almost as many as Nick Collison had (6). On top of that, Nick Collison played 5 more minutes, and was only 1-6 of the floor for 2 points. While 2 blocked shots are impressive, they're not enough to keep Nick Collison away from tonight's Thunder Blunder.

Next Game: Friday at the Utah Jazz

Lets prepare for another beatdown.

Game 4 Pregame: Celtics at Thunder

They have it. We want it. But we can't have it. The next best thing to actually winning the championship is beating the championship team. Well, actually I suppose it's making it to the finals; but seeing as how we have no chance of making the playoffs, this is as close as we can get. And what better chance do we have at capturing the epic upset than here in now legendary "Loud City?" Do I think it'll happen tonight? Ha, not even close! But hey, can't wait to see the Big Ticket take the court again.

Backstory: The Thunder suck. Really, the Celtics represent everything we're not. 1) Talented. KG, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce. KD, Jeff Green, Chris Wilcox. See the difference? 2) Team Chemistry and Leadership. Ray Allen is a solid vet, KG is using this opportunity to build his legacy, and Pierce is, of course, the Cap'N. Who leads our team? Joe Smith? Plus team's way too young to build any chemistry. 3) They're winners. Like I said earlier, they got rings, we don't.

Match-Ups:
Earl Watson vs. Rajon Rondo
Edge: Rondo
I'm in the school of thought that says that all the talent around him makes Rondo appear better. Still, a solid defender, good driver, and has freakishly large hands.

Kevin Durant vs. Ray Allen
Edge: KD
Allen has fallen off his game a tad since he left Seattle, and I think that KD will generally fill up the stat sheet a lot more.

Jeff Green vs. Paul Pierce
Edge: Pierce
This one ain't close at all. In my humble opinion, which happens to be shared by Danny Ainge, when Pierce is on his game, it's really hard to find someone anybody. There's always going to be a player just as good of course, but if you told the Celtics they could swap him for LeBron, I think they'd stay where they are now.

Nick Collison vs. Kevin Garnett
Edge: KG
Wilcox matches up much better, but in all likelihood he'll be coming off the bench again. Theres no one on the team who'll ever be as good as KG, so don't feel bad about losing this match-up.

Johan Petro vs. Kendrick Perkins
Edge: Perkins
Neither of these players are great, maybe borderline ok at best. Like Rondo though, the presence of the Big 3 takes a lot of pressure off Perk so just because of that, he's better.

Battle of the Benches
Edge: Draw
Theres nothing that spectacular about the Celtics bench. They have some nice players; Big Baby, Sam Cassel, Eddie House, but nothing special. Still, they're efficient. Same goes for Thunder, who get a big boost from Weezy.

Coaching and Intangibles
Edge: Celtics
I'm not a big believer in Doc Rivers' coaching prowess, I think he's a benefactor from some great trades. Still, how many championships does P.J. have?

Player to Watch: I think Weezy off the bench is a safe pick. Really, the Thunder will need to rely on him and Durant if they have any hope of keeping it reasonable.

Predicted Result: Hmmmmmm, the God of Thunder says Celtics 95, Thunder 81