Celtics need to bounce back

It seemed like a gift. The Celtics, on a full day’s rest and without having to travel, facing an Oklahoma City Thunder team without Kevin Durant and Jeff Green. The Celtics hadn’t lost at home all season.

Easy right?

The Celtics may have underestimated the Thunder Friday night, but they were also outplayed. For the first time all season, Rajon Rondo lost the point guard matchup. But beyond that, Oklahoma City never played like underdogs. The Thunder wreaked havoc, clogging passing lanes on defense and penetrating to draw fouls on offense.

What did the Thunder do to earn the win?

“It was just they hit shots they weren’t supposed to hit,” said Shaquille O’Neal. “We also have to realize every team that plays us is going to be playing way above their heads. Westrbook is not really a three-point shooter. He hit a couple of threes. One dude hit a three off the glass. If we do what we’re supposed to do we wouldn’t even be in that situation. It’s hard to get up for certain people.”

Shaq didn’t give full credit to the Thunder, but the fact is the Celtics didn’t do enough to earn the win. Westbrook, for example, had 31 points to Rondo’s 14.

“He played the way he regularly plays,” said Glen Davis. “We didn’t make shots today. We beat ourselves, point blank.”

But the Celtics shot 49 percent to OKC’s 43 percent. It wasn’t as simple as making shots. Needing to defend their home court against a team without its best player, the Celtics simply came up short.

“They were active, athletic, played hard,” said Kevin Garnett. “They really deserved to win the game quite honestly. If we’d have won the game I would’ve been happy with the win but known that we didn’t deserve the win. So we didn’t.”

The Celtics — with or without Rajon Rondo — face the Toronto Raptors Sunday afternoon. It’s a game the Celtics should win. You should probably tune in anyways.