If you were to simply extrapolate out the halftime score of Wednesday night's matchup between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Boston Celtics, you would conclude that the game's final score would settle at 144-98. Do not ever do this. It never ends well.
Instead, the Celtics made a second-half run, the Thunder cooled off and suddenly the game was tight in the fourth quarter. At one point, Boston cut the lead to six, only to see Oklahoma City make one more run to put the game out of reach. Still, the 119-104 final score was closer than expected, all things considered.
Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant again provided the one-two punch for the Thunder, scoring 31 and 28 points, respectively. James Harden and Daequan Cook offered strong play in scoring roles as well, kicking in 17 points apiece in the win. Kendrick Perkins also added eight points and a team-high nine rebounds for the Thunder.
For the Celtics, it was all about the starters, with precious little coming from anywhere else. The Boston bench combined for just nine points -- JaJuan Johnson had six and Keyon Dooling had three -- while the starters shouldered the load. Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce each scored 23 points to lead the way, with Ray Allen added 21 in the loss.
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