It came down to the wire as Jaylen Brown and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander exchanged baskets in the closing minutes of the Celtics 104-102 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder Thursday night at the Paycom Center.
The two league MVP candidates didn't disappoint as Brown finished with 34 points on 10-of-25 from the field, six rebounds and seven assists while Payton Pritchard returned from a one-game absence and was inserted into the starting lineup for Derrick White (knee contusion) to score 14 points, but came up short on the final shot that would have been the potential game winner as time expired.
Baylor Scheierman started in place of Jayson Tatum, who sat out due to Achilles injury management, and had 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists, while rookie Hugo Gonzalez also added 11 points, and five rebounds off the bench for the Celtics -- who dropped their second-straight and are now 43-23 on the season.
Gilgeous-Alexander recorded a game-high 35 points on 13-of-18 shooting to go along with six rebounds and nine assists, while breaking Wilt Chamberlain's record for consecutive games with 20 points or more at 127 and counting.
Ajay Mitchell had 15 points, six assists and Chet Holmgren netted 14 points, including sinking two tie-breaking free throws to close the game and grabbed nine rebounds for the Thunder -- who improved to a league-best 52-15 and won their seventh in a row without Isaiah Hartenstein (left calf contusion) and Jalen Williams (right hamstring strain).
In a game that featured 19 lead changes and 14 ties, the Celtics used a 15-4 spurt to take a 43-31 advantage in the second quarter, before Oklahoma City responded with a 16-3 run of their own to go ahead 47-46 with 2:25 left in the half. Pritchard hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Boston a 59-56 lead at the break.
Gilgeous-Alexander knocked down a mid-range jumper with 7:04 remaining in the third period to tie the game 69-69 and break Chamberlain's record that stood since 1963 and to give himself 21 points.
The Celtics still led 83-80 heading into the final frame, but went cold throughout the fourth -- going 4-of-18, including missing all seven of their 3-point attempts and turning the ball over four times. Still, they were right there when Brown made two free-throws to even it up 100-100 with 50.6 seconds left to play.
Gilgeous-Alexander connected on two go-ahead free-throws of his own with 29.6 seconds remaining and Oklahoma City was up 102-100, before Brown scored on a turnaround with 23 seconds left to tie-it and set up up the final sequence. SGA passed it to Alex Caruso, who missed a wide open 3-pointer, but Holmgren grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 0.9 seconds left.
Following the made free throws by Holmgren that turned out to be the game winner, Pritchard missed a long 3-pointer as the clock hit triple-zeros.
Effort was good," Joe Mazzulla told reporters postgame. "It's effort, toughness, execution. I thought our effort and toughness were great. We played two great teams like that. Obviously, every possession matters, so a couple of possessions didn't go our way -- that's the difference in the game. I thought we played very well, credit to the guys, and how we have the possessions that we know we have to be better at."
The Celtics go 1-2 on their mini road trip and return home to host the Washington Wizards (16-49) Saturday night at TD Garden. NBA TV has the tip-off at 6:00 pm ET.
Game Notes:
Boston made 40% of their attempts from the field, including 13-of-42 (31%) from 3-point range, while the Thunder were 48% from the floor and 11-of-44 (25%) from 3. The Celtics won the rebound battle 44-39, but were outscored in the paint 44-34. The C's dished out 20 assists on 35 baskets and committed 13 turnovers while Oklahoma City had 22 dimes on 40 made shots and turned the ball over 12 times.
Joel Pavón
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