Final
Celtics-Thunder Preview
Dec 4, 2009 - 5:50 AM By BRETT HUSTON STATS WriterBoston (14-4) at Oklahoma City (10-8), 8:00 p.m. EDT
The Boston Celtics figure to be in a tight race for home-court advantage in the Eastern Conference playoffs all season, but right now, the prospect of having to play a critical game away from TD Garden doesn't look so bad.
The Celtics look for their fifth straight road win and seventh overall Friday night as they close a four-game trip against the Oklahoma City Thunder, who can attribute much of their solid start to their success against the East.
Boston (15-4) finished 27-14 on the road last season, the same record Cleveland and Orlando compiled in the tight three-team race atop the conference.
Many expect a similar fight to the finish in 2009-10, but if the Celtics keep performing the way they have so far away from home, they may have the upper hand. Boston has won four straight and eight of nine on the road, including the first three games of the current trip.
Kevin Garnett's 24 points on 11 of 12 shooting helped the Celtics start the trip with a 92-85 win in Miami on Sunday, then Ray Allen (27 points) and Kendrick Perkins (21) led the way in a 108-90 rout of Charlotte on Tuesday. It was Garnett's turn to take over again Thursday in San Antonio, where he scored a game-high 20 in a 90-83 victory that gave Boston its second six-game winning streak of the season.
"We've got a little rhythm," Garnett said.
Rasheed Wallace, who had 13 points and four blocks off the bench, was already looking forward to facing the Thunder (10-8).
"That's the make or break of the trip," Wallace said. "It'll be a downer if we don't go in there tomorrow and come out with a W."
While Paul Pierce (18.2 points per game), Allen (17.3) and Garnett (16.8) have provided some typically balanced production during the streak, a more surprising scorer has emerged in the normally defensive-minded Perkins.
Coming off a breakout postseason in which he averaged 11.9 points and 11.6 rebounds, Perkins has developed into more of an offensive threat lately. He's averaged 15.0 points on 77.8 percent shooting during the six-game winning streak, also chipping in 9.7 boards and 2.2 blocks.
It won't be Perkins' job to try to stay with Kevin Durant on Friday, but the Celtics can hope they're as successful defending the league's No. 4 scorer (27.7 ppg) as they were last season. Durant averaged 19.0 points in two games versus Boston in 2008-09 - shooting 6 of 15 each time - as the Celtics won by an average of 16.0 points.
Durant's averaged 29.8 points as the Thunder have won three of four, and he hit 30 for the seventh time on Wednesday. The 2007-08 rookie of the year scored 33, hitting a season-high five 3-pointers, in Oklahoma City's 117-106 victory over Philadelphia.
Point guard Russell Westbrook had a career-high 15 assists, while Nick Collison had a season-high 18 points in his return after missing four games with a sprained knee.
"We needed that spark, that energy and (Nick) came in, took a few charges, got some putbacks. He helped us out," said forward Jeff Green, picked fifth in the 2007 draft by the Celtics and traded as part of the deal that sent Allen to Boston. "He was that spark that got us over the top."
The Thunder are 6-1 against the East this season - 4-0 at home - with Durant averaging 33.3 points in his team's last four interconference matchups.
- NBA
FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
MINNESOTA 22 27 16 24 89
NEW ORLEANS 20 27 28 23 98 FINAL
HIGH SCORERS: MIN - AL JEFFERSON 20, RYAN GOMES 15, WAYNE
ELLINGTON 12
NOR - DEVIN BROWN 19, EMEKA OKAFOR 17,
DAVID WEST 17
NBA FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
BOSTON 31 29 28
Dec 4 10:25 PM - NBA
BOSTON 88
OKLAHOMA CITY 65 0:00 LEFT, 3RD QTR
Dec 4 9:55 PM - NBA
HALFTIME 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
BOSTON 31 29 60
OKLAHOMA CITY 20 29 49 HALFTIME
HIGH SCORERS AT HALFTIME
BOS - PAUL PIERCE 21, KENDRICK PERKINS 13,
KEVIN GARNETT 12
OKC - KEVIN DURANT 22, RUSSELL WESTBROOK 11,
JEFF GREEN 6
Dec 4 9:10 PM - NBA
END 1ST QTR 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
BOSTON 31 31
OKLAHOMA CITY 20 20 END 1ST QTR
HIGH SCORERS AFTER 1ST QUARTER
BOS - PAUL PIERCE 11, KEVIN GARNETT 6, TWO
PLAYERS WITH 5
OKC - KEVIN DURANT 12, JEFF GREEN 4, TWO
PLAYERS WITH 2
Dec 4 8:35 PM
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