Thunder light up the Celtics, 109-94

BOX SCORE

Four minutes in to tonight’s game, I was already plugging in words to my handy Back-to-Back Excuse Generator, ready to pin this completely on being shorthanded after playing a tight game in Milwaukee 24 hours earlier. The Thunder were down 18-3 just minutes in, and looked completely listless.

A few subs were made, the energy cranked up a bit, and by the end of the first quarter, things were workable. The Thunder still couldn’t make anything, but they were at least doing that thing where they tried real, real hard. The belief was that hopefully, maybe, things would finally start to fall.

And my heavens, did they ever in the second half. The Thunder shot 35 percent the first 24 minutes, and 61.9 percent the second 24. Scott Brooks talked last night about trusting ball movement even when shots weren’t falling, and as the Thunder got more into the game, the ball started popping better and better. Reggie Jackson took control in the third quarter, scoring 14 with four assists to give OKC a four-point lead heading to the fourth. And from there, it wasn’t about hanging on this time. It was about putting their foot down and slamming the door.

The Thunder simply outclassed the Celtics. Jackson picked up on a pick-and-roll deficiency and exposed it a few times with either a sharp pocket pass or lob to a big. That got the Celtic defense a little interior focused, and opened up the offense. The Thunder spread the floor and used Kendrick Perkins setting a very high ball screen on Avery Bradley. Jackson attacked, drew defenders and kicked to a corner. An extra pass and the Thunder were walking into clean looks.

A lot of them fell to Anthony Morrow, who in his second game back from injury played 31 minutes and lit the lamp for 28 points on 11-16 shooting (4-5 from 3). He’s obviously a fantastic spot-up shooter, but he got a lot of what he wanted off pindowns and curls tonight. He’s a microwave kind of player, someone that can completely shoot the lights out once he starts going. He hit a couple shots, and all he needed after that was airspace and he was hitting nothing but the bottom.

The contrast from last night to tonight — or even the first quarter to the following three — kind of makes it hard to believe this was the same team. The stalled, disjointed offense with no direction or feel gave way to a free-flowing attack built on space, passing and movement. Multiple touches per possession, with Jackson serving as an initiator to either attack on his own or find someone else. The Celtics had no clue how to defend the Thunder. Add in the energy from Lance Thomas who created a number of points on his own with five offensive rebounds (13 total, plus seven points and six assists) and not only did the Thunder outplay Boston, but they outworked them too.

It’s all day by day, game by game stuff for this team right now. In the same way you can’t fall on your face after last night’s limp performance, you can’t begin to think this is going to become the norm. At the same time, the more this team plays together, the more confidence and chemistry they’re going to build And while winning is the undoubted priority, developing a style and identity where you plug two top five players back in to it in a month could mean this team has outrageous potential.

This win in a vacuum, though, is likely the best of the season. Second of a back-to-back, third in four nights, and to play with that kind if intensity and precision was really impressive. I’m probably overstating things because I’m high on hyperbole after watching Morrow drain everything he looked at, but I have this feeling this might be one of those touchstone-y kind of wins the team looks back on later. The effort with eight guys against the Nuggets was special, but this was just damn good basketball. The Thunder didn’t just survive a game on spit and grit; they did it by playing better than the other team.

NOTES:

• Morrow and Reggie Jackson in the second half: 42 points on 16-20 shooting, 6-7 from 3. That’s pretty okay.

• I know everyone has already had this thought roughly 200 times already, but having Morrow on the wing for Durant and Westbrook to look for is something to be giddy over.

• Jackson is playing some ball right now — 28 on 8-15, eight assists to one turnover, three rebounds. If he keeps this up, fans aren’t going to have a word to say to him when he tries to force his way into a starting lineup elsewhere next summer. It’s still just been six games for him, but he certainly is starting to look more and more star-ish.

• Brooks stuck with what was working down the stretch, leaving Serge Ibaka and Steven Adams on the bench, favoring Perk and Collison. Good choice for a number of reasons, most importantly that Collison’s passing was a big part of opening shots for Morrow.

• Things the Thunder did well tonight that they haven’t in losses: They hit 19-22 from the line, and turned it over just eight times.

• Last season, Perk had nine total dunks. He’s got three in his last two games. He’s obviously playing with a bit more athleticism and just looks more confident in general. I don’t know if he’s relaxed coming off the bench or he’s got a point to prove in a contract year, but Perk is playing really well.

• Evan Turner has gotten fatter, huh?

• I bet it’s pretty fun for the guys on the floor when they’re playing well because the bench is so unbelievably excited. After everything that happened, I’m immediately looking for the reaction.

• I am SUCH a sucker for an extra pass. I love it so much.

• 67 points in the second half tonight. Remember: The Thunder scored 78 total last night in Milwaukee.

• Jeremy Lamb has serious road/home issues this season. His splits last season were virtually identical, but at home in two games, he’s averaging 17.0 points on 13-28 shooting. In two road games, 5.0 on 4-23. So gross. He was beyond terrible in this one. I legit thought he was missing that bunny set up by Lance Thomas. Like I had no confidence that was going in. I bet he didn’t either.

• Once Andre Roberson returns, he’ll surely take Lamb’s spot in the starting five, but the question is, would you make a change before then and slot Morrow in? I think I would. The fear there is you kill Lamb’s already fragile confidence, but Morrow is simply better, and more reliable. Maybe Lamb could use going back to the bench to play against second units and relax a bit.

• Was it just me or did Steven Adams look like the biggest human ever when he skied for that alley oop?

• Two trips to Boston for the Thunder without Durant and Westbrook, two wins. I say leave ’em at home next season.

• It’s already begun: Some are calling for Perk to take his starting spot back from Steven Adams. Look, Adams hasn’t been all that great lately, but he’s still averaging double-double-ish numbers. In tonight’s “bad game” that had some upset, Adams had nine points and five rebounds. It’s not that he’s played all that poorly; it’s that we’ve all ratcheted up our expectations for him, especially since his great preseason. And your expectations are so low for Perk that he looks like Patrick Ewing out there.

• The Celtics airballed five 3s in the first half.

• OKC’s bench outscored Boston’s 40-15. In fact, Morrow outscored Boston’s bench 28-15.

• Perk a +26, Collison a +16, Morrow a +25, Thomas a +21. Adams was a -11, Ibaka a -7, Lamb a -10.

• The zone is sometimes getting the Thunder in trouble because they miscommunicate and give up a really easy bucket, but the way Brooks is switching between it and man is pretty clever. You can see the confusion it’s creating as other teams try and cycle through offensive sets to figure out what to run each trip down.

• Nancy Lieberman’s breakdowns are, uh, a bit lacking. “Here are two people are, and if you look there, there’s a player there. Stop it here. And now if you look here, there’s a player now there. And Perk scores.”

• The Thunder are riding a pretty impressive streak. It’s now been four games without anyone getting injured.

• Thing I had typed in the first quarter: “It’s becoming more and more obvious that Lance Thomas is not very good. It’s almost as if he wasn’t expected to be a starter before the season started.”

• Thing I have typed after the game: “Lance Thomas deserves a max contract.” It escalated quickly.

• Nick Collison hit two more 3s tonight. It’s to the point now where he needs a 3-point celebration. I’ve already suggested combing his side part with three fingers. What you got?

Next up: Home against the Pistons on Friday