Celtics-Thunder Player Grades: Tatum and Brown look great, Scheierman huge off bench

BOSTON — The Celtics won a real heavyweight matchup on Wednesday night, beating the OKC Thunder by 10, 119-109 on a night both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown flirted with triple-doubles.

Box Score

Game Flow

The Thunder started the game on a 14-5 run, mostly because Sam Hauser started the game 1-5 from three on all great looks. Boston put together a 7-2 answer to keep things close, but the Thunder closed the quarter on a 15-7 run to go up 11. The Celtics shot just 29% and 4-13 from three.

Tatum found his game in the second quarter, fueling an 18-10 start that cut the lead back down to three. The run grew to 29-15 and Boston took their first lead of the game. The Thunder reclaimed it, but only led by four at the half.

They pushed the lead to eight, but Boston was able to tie the game midway through the quarter. Baylor Scheierman played well on both ends and gave Boston a lead. A monster dunk by Jaylen Brown got the crowd going as Boston led 77-75. The lead grew to five heading into the fourth. Brown played the whole quarter and had 14/4/4.

The teams went back and forth in the fourth but Boston was able to draw a lot of fouls and get OKC in the penalty early, which helped the Celtics balloon their lead to 14. The Celtics got a little sloppy and the Thunder were able to walk the lead down to six with about a couple minutes left. But the Celtics got into the bonus right around that time, and they were able to use free throws (many of them by Brown) to hold OKC off.

Three reasons they won

The Jays were great (after slow starts)

The first quarter was tough for both of them (it was for the whole team), but they were awesome after that. Both were in total control, making great reads, spraying the ball, and creating for everyone.

The standout stats for each were Tatum’s rebounding (12) and Brown’s assists (8), both things that were good but have now crossed into a different realm.

Baylor Scheierman was good on both ends

He was 3-7 from three (42.%) and the other shot he hit was a monster putback dunk. Well, monster for him.

On the other end, he picked up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for a few possessions and held his own. He did a good job of defending without fouling, a tall task for anyone guarding SGA.

“It's just who he is. He's just got a knack for making plays,” Joe Mazzulla said. “He doesn't want to be defined by one thing. He doesn't care if he shoots. He doesn't care if he has to play defense, crashing, taking care of the ball, he just has a knack for making basketball plays. It's a huge strength of his, and it gives us a different dynamic on our team.”

The Celtics crashed the glass

They finished with a 19-2 advantage in second chance points. They didn’t dominate the glass at the highest volume, but they made the most of the seven offensive rebounds they did get.

Player Grades

Jaylen Brown: A (31 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists)

Aside from seeing the game extraordinarily well, Brown was able to get to the line 14 times, two more than Gilgeous-Alexander. Him drawing three quick ones in the fourth quarter was huge because it got Boston into the bonus quickly, and they were able to control the game from there.

Jayson Tatum: A (19 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists)

Another slow start, which impacted his overall efficiency (5-12 fg), but he found his jumper in the second quarter and it opened up his game. Despite his ups and downs, the rebounding has been there in a big way during his comeback.,

Baylor Scheierman: A (11 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist)

When the Celtics are getting bench production from Pritchard and one other person, they're incredibly hard to beat. Scheierman has good size and is as confident as it gets on the floor, so him finding ways to contribute like this and stay on the floor really allows the Celtics to match physical teams.

Payton Pritchard: A- (14 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist)

He hit some big three-pointers, and helped the Celtics keep even with the Thunder bench who seemed tog et big shots from a few different guys.

Neemias Queta: A- (13 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists)

He did a good job screening and the Celtics missed him a couple of times when he rolled to the rim. It’s tough against the Thunder because they have different styles of center, but he held his own nicely. He did get into some foul trouble.

Luka Garza: B- (7 points, 2 rebounds)

Not really his night, but he wasn’t bad. He did get caught up in some of the officiating, which might have thrown him off some.

Hugo Gonzalez: B- (3 points, 2 rebounds)

He only played nine minutes, but his energy early on was helpful. It’s tough for him, though, as a rookie against such an experienced team.

Sam Hauser: C+ (9 points, 5 rebounds)

The first quarter would have looked very different if Hauser could hit an open shot. He finally knocked down a couple later in the game. The five rebounds were helpful.