Winning is everything
Not a few quarters found themselves wanting in the aftermath of the supposedly marquee matchup between the Celtics and the Thunder on Thursday. Not that the set-to wound up being a blowout; on the contrary, the scores were close from start to finish. Rather, the disappointment was borne of the manner in which the proceedings unfolded. When the battlesmoke cleared, the defending champions had a record 63 three-point attempts to their name. Meanwhile, the Western Conference pacesetters went to the charity stripe a whopping 35 times. In other words, style got in the way of substance.
To be sure, the Celtics have ample reason to believe their preferential option for the trey resoundingly redounds to their benefit. For one thing, it enabled them to claim their 18th title last year. For another, they continue to boast of the personnel required to employ a devastating five-out offense that counters the Thunder’s propensity to pack the paint. The flipside is that head coach Joe Mazzulla’s predilections invariably invite significant variance. On Thursday, for instance, they stayed true to the so-called scorer’s mentality and kept on chucking from behind the arc regardless of their misfires; a full two-thirds of their field goal tries were for threes.
Not coincidentally, the Thunder opted to be just as stubborn with their strategy; per bench tactician Mark Daigneault, they sought seams in the Celtics’ interior defense and feasted on twos even from the dreaded midrange. As with the green and white, previous successes fortified their belief in the efficacy of their methods. And, to this end, it certainly helped that they had Move Valuable Player candidate (and frequently fouled) Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to lead them. Whether or not he’s a whistle merchant depends on perspective, but there can be no questioning the results; not for nothing was he able to trek to the line 11 times, just one short of the opposition’s aggregate.
Perhaps the contest would have been as aesthetically pleasing as conventional wisdom desired had it featured more fastbreak points. That the Celtics and the Thunder ultimately generated a mere 23 between themselves and instead resorted to rinse-and-repeat uglyball served to fuel critics’ views on why pro hoops ratings are down. They couldn’t care less, of course. After all, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Appearances are secondary. Winning is everything.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
