Two teams coming off lackluster performances will look to regroup Tuesday night when the visiting Boston Celtics take on the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Oklahoma City wrapped up the 2022 portion of its schedule with a 115-96 home loss to Philadelphia on New Year’s Eve. The Thunder shot 38 percent from the field (35 of 92), including 12-for-36 on 3-point attempts. Philadelphia never trailed and outscored Oklahoma City 66-42 in the paint.
The Thunder trailed by 33 in the first half and never sliced their deficit below 14 points after that.
Boston had its four-game winning streak end with Sunday night’s 123-111 loss at Denver. Jaylen Brown (30 points) and Jayson Tatum (25) did much of the scoring for Boston, which trailed by double digits for most of the contest.
The Celtics’ defense allowed the Nuggets to shoot 57 percent from the floor (45-for-79) and 56.7 percent from 3-point range (17-for-30).
Unlike Denver, Boston struggled from 3-point range in the loss. The Celtics missed 24 of their 33 attempts from distance. Boston shot 46 percent from the field overall (40 of 87).
The Celtics have failed to shoot better than 35 percent from 3-point range in six of their last eight contests and have shot below 30 percent from behind the arc in five of those games.
Oklahoma City entered its game against Philadelphia having scored at least 100 points in 26 consecutive games. Josh Giddey (20 points) was the Thunder’s leading scorer in the loss.
