Down to the wire
Westbrook gets help from unlikely trio in win vs. Celtics
Despite loss of starter, Thunder wins game with Celtics, 98-96.
Semaj Christon played the entire fourth quarter. Kyle Singler entered the game with 3:47 left in the third quarter. Alex Abrines entered with 1:57 left in the third.
None of those playing-time decisions was a white flag.
A strange Sunday night at the ‘Peake ended with a 99-96 Thunder victory over Boston that had the usual suspect — Russell Westbrook — leading the way, but with a supporting cast that was unusual to say the least.
Sometimes in a long NBA season, you’ve got to win games you don’t have any business winning.
Games in which you make just 14 of 27 foul shots. Games in which you miss your first 16 3-point shots, including 13 in the first half, none of them taken by notorious long-range misser Westbrook. Games in which an indispensable player, in this case Victor Oladipo, goes out in the first quarter with a sprained wrist off a scary tumble. Games in which you lead for only 2:20 of the game’s 48 minutes.
This was uphill all the way, and it was all hands on deck.
Singler had played one minute since Nov. 18. Abrines had played one minute since Nov. 23. But for five full minutes, spanning the third and fourth quarters, Billy Donovan had both on the court, along with Christon. That’s three thirdteamers on the court with the game in the balance.
And somehow it worked. In Singler’s seven minutes on the court, the Thunder scored 22 points on 14 possessions. On the 15 second-half possessions before Singler entered, OKC scored 14 points.
It’s not like Singler and Abrines lit up the Celtics.
Singler made just one of two shots; Abrines didn’t come close to shooting. But for whatever reason, they brought stability.
“Kind of weird,” Abrines said. “But I’m a rookie, still learning. Just gotta be ready. We came back fighting (from a 66-53 deficit). You realize why we love this sport. Moments like this make you happy.”
And Christon brought production. The backup point guard only because Cameron Payne has been hurt all year, Christon had his best game as a pro. Nine points on 3-of-3 shooting, two assists, two steals and quality defense against Boston’s athletic guards.
“It was fun to see the coaching staff trust me,” Christon said.
Christon still doesn’t give the Thunder what Payne would. But Christon is turning into a serviceable backup point guard. He doesn’t get burned much on defense, and his offense showed a clear upgrade Sunday night.
Donovan said that with no Oladipo, Christon was able to lighten some load on Westbrook with fourthquarter ballhandling. And Christon gives the Thunder defense the same switching ability it gets with Oladipo.
“Semaj gave us good minutes,” Donovan said. “Tonight was a total team effort and total team win. We got some really good minutes from our bench. Everybody contributed in the game.”
The play of the C team allowed Westbrook and Steven Adams to return fresh with 8:45 left in the game.
Christon scored six straight points spanning the third and fourth quarters to turn a six-point deficit into a 71-71 tie. Christon’s steal with minutes left set up Adams’ three-point play to get the Thunder within 90-89. And when Westbrook and Avery Bradley dueled on a jump ball with 21 seconds left, Christon grabbed the tip, passed out of a double team to Adams and suddenly Jerami Grant had a dunk that gave OKC a fourpoint lead with 14 seconds left.
Westbrook was the star. His triple-double streak ended at seven — only in his world could a 37-point, 12-rebound, six-assist night be a disappointment — but the Thunder won to get to 15-9. And Westbrook had help from the most unlikely of places. Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at (405) 760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. You can also view his personality page at newsok.com/ berrytramel.