2015 NBA scores: The Celtics shut down Russell Westbrook, and 4 other things we learned Sunday

Boston held Russell Westbrook at bay in the fourth quarter to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, plus four other things we learned Sunday.

by Liam Boylan-Pett

Nov 16, 2015, 1:00 PM UTC

Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Russell Westbrook was doing Russell Westbrook things against the Boston Celtics on Sunday. He put Isaiah Thomas on ice skates in the first quarter and chased down Marcus Smart for a ridiculous block in the third -- and the Oklahoma City Thunder looked well on their way to a win.

Then the Celtics’ fourth quarter defense took over. Boston held Westbrook to only four points in the final frame and the Thunder to a mere 11 as they pulled away down the stretch to win, 100-85.

It was the Celtics' second straight win. Boston has won four of its last five games to climb above .500 for the first time this season at 5-4. Smart led the way for the Celtics with 26 points, eight rebounds and three assists, and Jared Sullinger added eight points and 15 rebounds. But it was the defense that really did it for Boston -- and it's the same reason they're climbing the ranks in the Eastern Conference.

They have a defensive rating (points given up per 100 possessions) of 94.4 this season -- which ranks fourth-best in the league through Sunday. Over the past five games, the defense has been even better. The Celtics are giving up only 91.9 points per 100 possessions in that stretch.

Westbrook had 27 points, five assists and four rebounds, but couldn't make shots consistently -- going only 5-of-20 from the field. The Thunder certainly missed Kevin Durant, who missed another game with his hamstring injury, but the Celtics didn't make it easy for the Thunder offense, especially in the second half.

The Thunder did play well in the first half and into the third quarter. Westbrook had 17 in the first half as Oklahoma City built up a seven-point lead. The lead even ballooned to 11 with 9:11 left in the third quarter.

But that’s when the Celtics’ defense took over. The Thunder began to falter and couldn’t do anything offensively in the fourth. They were a miserable 2-of-17 from the field and 0-of-5 from deep. They made 7-of-10 free throws, but that was the only way they were scoring. With only 11 points, it was their lowest scoring quarter this season. Westbrook had four points but was 0-of-5 from the field and had no rebounds or assists.

The Celtics, meanwhile, were solid offensively in the frame -- which was enough to blow the game wide open. They hit 50 percent of their shots from the field in the quarter to score 28 points on their way to what turned out to be an easy 15-point win. It was a 26-point swing from the 11-point deficit the Celtics faced in the third quarter.

Sure, the Thunder were without Durant, but the Celtics are looking more and more like a team capable of winning a playoff series or two in the East. They have offensive threats like Thomas and Smart, but that stingy defense is the type of unit that could do damage in the postseason.

4 things we learned

Mike Budenholzer of the Atlanta Hawks can coach, but the Utah Jazz are dangerous. The Jazz were up by four with 38 seconds to play and the Hawks inbounding. Budenholzer drew up a beautiful play out of a timeout that left Al Horford wide open for a corner three. He hit it and the Hawks were within one. They stopped the Jazz on the next play and had a chance to win with 3.8 seconds to play. Budenholzer drew up another great play by having Horford set a simple back screen on Paul Millsap's man:

Unfortunately for the Hawks, Millsap missed the easy look even after he made Rudy Gobert almost fall down. The Jazz were lucky Millsap missed the jumper at the horn, but they did play tough against a good Hawks team on the road -- even if Atlanta was missing Jeff Teague. Derrick Favors had 23 points and nine rebounds and Rudy Gobert had 11 points and 11 rebounds. The Jazz are sticking their noses right into the playoff race in the West.

The Memphis Grizzlies aren't completely opposed to three-point shooting. It was an odd afternoon for the Grizzlies -- their shots were falling in their 114-106 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Grizzlies, who were shooting a league-worst 40.1 percent from the field heading into Sunday's game, made 56.3 percent of their shots and 52.9 percent from three. Mike Conley was 4-of-6 from deep with 20 points and seven assists as the Grizzlies won their second straight after dropping four in a row. Mario Chalmers had 16 points off the bench and hit 2-of-3 from deep -- he's been a nice addition in his two games with the Grizzlies. The youth movement in Minnesota of Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns were great on Sunday, but the veteran lineup in Memphis was too much for a Timberwolves team without Ricky Rubio.

DeMarcus Cousins and the Sacramento Kings have turned it around. All was lost in Sacramento earlier this week. The locker room was reportedly a mess and George Karl was supposedly on his way out. Then, a team meeting took place and the Kings have ripped off three wins in a row -- and Cousins has been phenomenal. He had 36 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks and three assists as the Kings went on a 10-0 run in the final 2:52 to beat the Toronto Raptors, 107-101.

It is time to panic in New Orleans. Sure, injuries have marred the early season for the New Orleans Pelicans. Tyreke Evans hasn't played at all, Jrue Holiday has played minimally as he comes back from injury, Omer Asik missed time, and even Anthony Davis has had to sit out. But at this point, they're falling too far behind in the playoff race. Aftter losing to the New York Knicks on Sunday, the Pelicans are now 1-9 and there isn't a quick fix on the way. Davis is playing well -- he had 36 points and 11 rebounds against the Knicks -- but New Orleans needs to fix things, and quickly. Last season, the Thunder started the season 3-12 before climbing back into the playoff race. They ended up missing out, though -- to the Pelicans.

Play of the night

(h/t @Mbibs)

Russell Westbrook ended up not having a great night, but dang he is fast. He closed like a blitzing strong safety to block Marcus Smart on this play. It wasn’t enough to get a win, but it was a reminder that you need a lot more space than you think to get a shot off against Westbrook.