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BOSTON -- Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant entered Wednesday's game against the Celtics leading the league in free throws made at 654, connecting on nearly 100 more free throws than second-place LeBron James (557).

(The same James, by the way, who attempted 16 charity chucks in a win over Boston earlier this month.)

Only Orlando's Dwight Howard had attempted more free throws (754) than Durant (733), and Oklahoma City's star swingman had nearly double the amount of attempts as the nearest Celtic (Paul Pierce, tied for 20th in the league at 385).

So the fact that Durant ended up at the charity stripe 15 times Wednesday wasn't shocking. But put in the context of the game, it left some, including Kevin Garnett, shaking their heads.

"I thought we were playing Michael [expletive] Jordan tonight the way he was getting the whistle," Garnett vented. "Durant damn near shot more free throws than our whole team."

To be clear, the Celtics did not pin all the blame on Wednesday's 109-104 loss to the upstart Thunder on the referees. The refs weren't the ones who were late closing out on Jeff Green as he drilled a pair of ice-water-in-his-veins 3-pointers in the final two minutes to help Oklahoma City emerge with another monumental win this season.

But on a night Boston shot 59.5 percent from the floor, generating a staggering 44 field goals against a top-10 scoring defense, a 34-17 free-throw attempt disparity between the teams stood out like a sore thumb on the final box score.

The Celtics connected on 13 of their 17 attempts (76.5 percent), while Oklahoma City made 28 of their 34 (82.4 percent). So try as they might, after a frustrating loss in which the Green played exceptionally well at times, they simply couldn't get over that number.

"I don't know, [refereeing is] not my call," said captain Paul Pierce. "I'm just a player out there playing. The referees, they make the call. It is what it is. I can't control that part of the game, I just have to control what I do as a player and as a team.

"Yeah, we have to do a better job keeping them off the line. They shoot 34 free throws, and that was the emphasis before the game that we can't foul them. They shoot 80 percent as a team from the line, and they did it again tonight. So you can't allow them to get to the line as many times as they did, and shoot 50 percent from the [field]."

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BOSTON -- A collection of postgame news and notes after the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Boston Celtics Wednesday night at TD Garden:

The rundown (a quick look at postgame headlines)
* Green leaves the Celtics green with envy
* Doc's opinion: Tough one to swallow
* Loose balls: Free throw disparity, 'Sheed shines,

Green leaves the Celtics green with envy

This was the sixth time Jeff Green had played against the team that drafted him with the fifth pick in the 2007 NBA draft, but it might have been the first time he left Celtics fans wondering what could have been.

Green, who had generated just two 3-pointers against Boston over the first 145 minutes he played against the Celtics over five games, coolly drained two clutch trifectas in the final two minutes of play Wednesday night to lift Oklahoma City to a 109-104 triumph at TD Garden.

Green finished with 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting with a trio of 3-pointers, four rebounds, two blocks and an assist over 39 minutes.

During the summer of 2007, the Celtics traded Green along with Wally Szczerbiak, Delonte West and a 2008 second-round draft pick (Trent Plaisted) to the Seattle Supersonics for Ray Allen and Glen Davis. The trade was rarely scrutinized in these parts after Allen helped Boston raise Banner 17 after the 2007-08 season, but as the Big Three age, it's easy to look at Green's development, particularly as he helps morph Oklahoma City into one of the most entertaining teams in the league.

"It's just me staying with my rhythm," Green said of his two crucial 3-pointers, both of which turned a tenuous one-point lead into a two-possession advantage. "Thabo [Sefolosha] and Russ [Westbrook] did a great job of finding me. Nenad [Krstic] set some great screens on [Kevin Garnett] when I was coming off. So it was a great part of my team.”

Green, who sometimes plays the part of Garnett for the Thunder, including blocking shots after the whistle, made KG and the Celtics pay for giving him space Wednesday.

"Until those two threes, I don’t think he was even that much of a factor, to be honest," said Garnett. "We were helping off of him, and he hit two big threes."

Green and his teammates reveled in the milestone victory against a championship-caliber opponent.

"It’s a big one for us," said Green, whose team is only one game worse than Boston at 46-28. "We won against a great team, five or six All-Stars on it. It was a great one for us, especially with what we’re fighting for."

Doc's opinion: Tough one to swallow



For Celtics coach Doc Rivers it was a no-brainer when asked whether it's tougher to endure a 20-point thrashing like the one Boston received from San Antonio Sunday, or the heartbreaker Wednesday night against Oklahoma City. It's clearly the latter.

"It’s a human game," said Rivers. "Sometimes you’re just going to play poorly. It happens. You’re disappointed both ways, but it's tougher for you when you know you were in the game and you had it, and you still lost it. That’s a tough one. That doesn’t happen very often -- when we play well we usually win."

Despite the recent stumbles at home -- and a grander pattern of struggles against quality competition at TD Garden -- Rivers remains optimistic about his squad. And he doesn't particularly care if anyone else is on board the bandwagon.

"You don’t have to be -- I am," said Rivers. "I don’t care what you guys are. I really don’t. I look at our team and you know, we played one bad night. We were playing great up until two games ago. Were you optimists three games ago? Either you’re on the bandwagon or you’re off. I tell guys that all the time. That’s the way I think. And that’s how our team should think. I’m not going to spend time trying to convince you to dislike us or like us. That’s up to you guys. Our team has to just keep working. We can’t stay in the past."

Loose balls: Free-throw disparity, 'Sheed shines,



* Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant ended up at the charity stripe 15 times Wednesday, which wasn’t exactly shocking by itself, but put in the context of the game, it left some like Kevin Garnett shaking their heads. “I thought we were playing Michael [expletive] Jordan tonight the way he was getting the whistle,” Garnett vented. “Durant damn near shot more free throws than our whole team.”

To be clear, the Celtics did not pin all the blame on Wednesday’s loss to the upstart Thunder on the referees. Those zebras weren’t the ones who were late closing out on Green as he drilled a pair of ice-water-in-his-veins 3-pointers in the final two minutes to help Oklahoma City emerge with another monumental win this season.

But on a night Boston shot 59.5 percent from the floor, generating a staggering 44 field goals against a top 10 scoring defense, a 34-17 free-throw attempt disparity between the teams stood out like a sore thumb on the final box score.

The Celtics connected on 13 of their 17 attempts (76.5 percent), while Oklahoma City made 28 of 34 (82.4 percent). So try as they might, after a frustrating loss in which the Green played exceptionally well at times, they simply couldn’t get over that number.

“I don’t know, [refereeing is] not my call,” said captain Paul Pierce. “I’m just a player out there playing. The referees, they make the call. It is what it is. I can’t control that part of the game, I just have to control what I do as a player and as a team."

Click HERE to read more about the Celtics' take on the referees.

* Rasheed Wallace shrugged off some recent struggles to pour in a team-high 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting Wednesday. Wallace registered only his second multi-3-pointer game since Jan. 28. On the flip side, Wallace logged only one rebound (not that there was many to be had) and a minus-8 overall in the plus/minus statistic.

Wallace also struggled to help contain Durant at times.

“It’s a team job to help out, period," said Wallace. "No matter whether it’s him or any other type of NBA All-Star, it’s a team effort to help out. It was a [pain], honestly. Helping Paul [Pierce] and Ray [Allen] out, it’s just a team thing. Gotta stay with him.”

* Both Pierce and Perkins indicated after the game that they felt fine returning to action. Pierce (right shoulder stinger) registered 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting with six rebounds, six assists, two steals, and a block. Perkins (left knee tendinitis) missed two games trying to rest his knee, but logged six points and four rebounds over 22 minutes.

BOSTON -- Instant reaction after the Oklahoma City Thunder posted a 109-104 triumph over the Boston Celtics Wednesday night at the TD Garden:

How the game was won: Kevin Durant poured in a game-high 37 points on 10-of-20 shooting, while Russell Westbrook added 21 points and 10 assists for the Thunder. Kevin Garnett and Rasheed Wallace paced six Boston players in double figures with 18 points apiece, while Rajon Rondo added 16 points and 11 assists.

Turning point: Jeff Green -- Boston's first-round pick (5th overall) in the 2007 draft who was traded to Seattle in exchange for Ray Allen -- drilled a pair of 3-pointers in the final two minutes, both times turning Oklahoma City's one-point lead into a two-possession game.

Stat of the game: The Celtics shot 71.1 percent (27 of 38 overall) in the first half ... and led by only four at the intermission. Boston scored the final seven points of the second quarter while opening its biggest lead to that point as the Thunder shot 56.8 percent (21 of 37) before the break.

Unsung hero: Wallace committed two turnovers and two fouls in five scoreless minutes to start the game and heard boos a couple times, but rebounded to scored 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting over 26 minutes off the bench.

What it means: The Celtics continue to falter against top competition at home. Particularly concerning is the fact that, in a game with a playoff atmosphere, the team again let the game slip away late and it was the youthful Thunder that made the plays -- on the road -- when they mattered most. Coupled with Atlanta's thrashing of the Lakers, the Celtics slipped a game back of the Hawks in the race for the third seed in the Eastern Conference.

BOSTON -- A collection of pregame news and notes before the Boston Celtics host the Oklahoma City Thunder Wednesday night at the TD Garden:

The rundown (a quick look at pregame headlines)
* Pierce, Perkins to play vs. Thunder
* Chance for bench to find rhythm
* Thunder's Durant on MVP chatter

Pierce, Perkins to play vs. Thunder



Celtics coach Doc Rivers said trainer Ed Lacerte called him Wednesday morning to green light Paul Pierce (right shoulder stinger) for action against the Thunder, and both the captain and center Kendrick Perkins will return to the starting lineup Wednesday night.

"He's playing, so yes, he's going to go, he's fine," Rivers said when asked if Pierce was healthy enough to play. "Eddie just called me in the morning and said, 'Paul's ready.' I think [team physician] Dr. [Brian] McKeon looked at him and gave him the go-ahead. That's good.

"It's scary. Obviously, you don't know why he gets injured. I guess I could call [Patriots] coach [Bill] Belichick, because it's a football injury. We don't have a whole bunch of stingers in our league that I know of."

Pierce suffered his first stinger in Sunday's loss to the Spurs after being fouled by Manu Ginobili in the third quarter. Pierce admitted he was sore after the game, but after an offday Monday, practiced with the team Tuesday and looked fine before suffering the exact same injury off a back pick midway through the session.

Rivers noted after Tuesday's session that, at worst, Pierce would miss a game or two, but the medical staff stressed that the injury wasn't a separation, and clearly his condition is safe enough for him to return to action immediately.

The Celtics will have their regular starting five in place with the return of Perkins, who sat out the last two games after battling left knee tendinitis for the better part of the past two months.

Boston is 36-13 this season with their regulars in place and 121-38 since the Big Three united at the start of the 2007 campaign.

"Our starting lineup is pretty good when it's intact," said Rivers. "We like it when we have it."

Healthy starting 5 = Chance for bench to find rhythm

One of the benefits of having a healthy starting five is that Boston's bench will have the chance to find a much-needed rhythm. The recent spate of injuries has forced the team to pull guys like Rasheed Wallace into the starting lineup, hindering the ability for the reserves to get in sync as the playoffs near.

Boston's bench has been woefully inconsistent in recent weeks.

"It means our bench will be better," said Rivers. "Rasheed will go back to the bench and that gives us a post player."

The one downside is that a guy like Marquis Daniels misses out on a chance to start and maybe emerge from his recent struggles. Regardless of his role, Rivers indicated at Tuesday's practice that it's important for Boston to get Daniels going, particularly establishing him in the post moving forward.

Thunder's Durant on MVP chatter



Averaging a shade under 30 points per game -- and sitting fractions of a point behind league-leading LeBron James -- Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant admits he's heard the whispers about including him in the MVP conversation. It's a bit humbling to the third-year player.

"I haven't really thought about it, but a lot of people wish me good luck and I look at them like, 'What do you mean?' said Durant. "Every year there's going to be guys in the MVP race like Dwight Howard, LeBron, Kobe [Bryant], [Dwyane] Wade. I never envision myself in that category yet. Hopefully before it's all said and done, I can get up there with those guys. Right now I'm just trying to do my best to get this team to the playoffs."

So is the talk frustrating if it overshadows the team's success?

"No, it's pretty cool," Durant said to laughter. "For a kid like me, coming from where I came from, to grow up as a player and have people say I could be the MVP in the NBA, that's something I dreamed about. It's pretty cool, but it's not something I'm worried about."

Celtics guard Ray Allen spent a lot of time after Tuesday's practice session talking about Seattle basketball (Allen is trying to organize a summer charity game in order to rekindle interest in bringing an NBA team back to the Emerald City) given the fact that Oklahoma City -- formerly the Seattle Supersonics, Allen's former employer -- visit the TD Garden Wednesday night.

But don't expect Allen to get all nostalgic. While his name might be etched in the team's record books, Allen can't relate to the Thunder.

"There are a couple of employees that I worked with when I was there, but for the most part, I don't associate [with] that team at all," admitted Allen. "Obviously, if the name was the same, or the coach was the same, you might notice it. But, for the most part, you can see they've done a good job of cutting all ties from the Seattle team."

Allen came to Boston in a draft night trade in 2007 that featured Jeff Green, Boston's first-round pick (5th overall), going to the Sonics. That same draft produced Kevin Durant for Sonics with the second overall pick. In 2008, the team moved to Oklahoma City after 41 years in Seattle.

WALTHAM, Mass. -- Call it a bit of advanced scouting, but Celtics center Kendrick Perkins was watching the Oklahoma City Thunder play on NBA TV recently and the one thing that stood out above all else came after the final buzzer.

"They interviewed Jeff Green after the game and he surprised me because he was like, 'We're a hard-working team, trying to win a championship,'" Perkins recalled after Tuesday's practice. "Well, no one picked Oklahoma City to even make the playoffs this year, but just the vibe in that locker room, to have one goal and that's to win a championship as a young team, I found that kind of crazy."

Crazy in a good way. After the ping-pong balls bounced against the Celtics following a 24-win campaign in the 2006-07 season, Boston nearly saw Perkins and Green united as teammates.

Instead, the Celtics traded Green -- the fifth overall pick that year -- to Seattle as part of a package that brought Ray Allen to Boston and set into motion the uniting of the Big Three. You know what happened from there.

It's unlikely the Celtics would have fancied themselves as championship contenders before the trades that brought Allen and Kevin Garnett to Boston. But, with help from those same ping-pong balls, Oklahoma City landed Kevin Durant and that gave the Thunder almost immediate hope at greatness.

"For young teams to have any type of success, historically, you have to figure out who the best player is," said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. "With a young team, when everybody is good, everyone is fighting to find out who is the man. There's no question who's the man in Oklahoma."

On a team that averages a mere 25 years of age, it's 21-year-old Durant that Rivers and his players were talking about most after Tuesday's practice.

The third-year forward is averaging 29.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game this season, while pacing the Thunder to a 45-28 record, which leaves them as the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference entering Wednesday's game.

Rivers fielded comparisons to Dirk Nowitzki and George Gervin, but noted, "he's a Durant -- there's [no comparison] -- he's the original."

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