The Thunder beat the Celtics 109-104 thanks to two late three-pointers by Jeff Green.
The referees also helped. OKC shot twice as many free throws as the Celtics (34-17). It's been awhile since I bitched about the officiating, but tonight it's justified. The Cs were just as aggressive as the Thunder, but they simply didn't get the calls. One Kevin (Durant) got all the whistles (15-15 FT), while another Kevin (Garnett) got none (0-0 FT). Paul Pierce had a picture-perfect clean strip on Durant with 2:40 left in the 4th quarter, but a referee 20 feet from the play thought he saw a foul.
KG's quote after the game sums it up:
"I thought we were playing Michael f---kin Jordan tonight the way he was getting the whistle. Durant damn near shot more free throws than our whole team."
The Celtics had their chances. After Green's first three pointer put OKC up 105-101 with 1:55 left, Ray Allen drove to the hoop for a nifty lefty layup and foul. But the Thunder went right back to Green who hoisted another wide open three and drilled it.
Rasheed Wallace played his best offensive game in a long time - 18 points, 7-8 FG. But his one miss was costly. He missed an open three pointer immediately after Green nailed the second of his back-breakers.
Down 4 with 8 seconds left, Ray Allen (13 points, 0-5 3FG) missed another wide-open three pointer.
Russell Westbrook (21 points, 10 assists) and Rajon Rondo (16 points, 11 assists, 5 steals) had a helluva battle tonight.