Rapid reaction: Oklahoma City holds off Boston 91-79 for another home win

By Anthony Slater – Aslater@opubco.com - @anthonyVslater

Oklahoma City beat Boston 91-79 on Sunday. Here’s some rapid reaction:

Turning point

Nick Collison started the fourth with a smooth jumper and Reggie Jackson followed it up with four straight points, extending the Thunder lead from three to nine. It was the necessary separation needed in this sloppy but highly contested game. Jackson continues to give the Thunder big minutes.

It was over when…

…The Thunder’s Big Three, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Martin, all shook off rough shooting nights and hit a trio of big shots in the final minutes. Martin started it with a 15-footer, Westbrook followed with a layup and Durant closed it out with a silky jumper, bumping the comfortable lead up to 12 with less than four minutes to play, officially putting away the pesky and defensive-minded Celtics.

Star of the game – Kevin Durant

Kind of by default. Durant really didn’t play that well (6-of-16 shooting, 23 points) by his standards. But, at least offensively, neither did anyone else. And Durant was there with big shots and important defensive plays when the Thunder needed it most. Plus, ABC provided us with the highlight of the game, a picture of Durant when he was a child. Looks exactly like you’d think he would:

Green’s return

It was a rough return for Jeff Green. He came off the bench mid-way through the first quarter, received a nice ovation from the OKC crowd, and then pleased the fans even more, throwing up brick after brick. Green went 2-of-11 overall, never finding the offensive rhythm that he’s had over the past few weeks. At halftime, Doc Rivers told ABC’s sideline reporter that Green was probably trying to hard and thinking too much about his return, which affected his play. But he did do this:

Photo of the game

Young Sam Presti is hilarious:

Stats of note