Celtics’ focus clouded without Durant around

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Kevin Durant wasn’t going to be on the floor for the Thunder last night because of a sprained left ankle, and maybe, just maybe, after beating the Wizards without their star, the Celtics were penciling in another win because Durant was going to be on the bench.

It made perfect sense.

Not even two weeks ago, the Celtics went to Oklahoma City, absorbed a 34-point Durant scoring spree, and picked up the first of three wins on a four-game trip. Without him, Oklahoma City could essentially scratch a solid 30 points from their lineup.

It ended up as one of those cases where the land mines were disguised as welcome signs.

The Celtics assumed that with Durant out, Russell Westbrook would try to shoulder the load, but there was nothing they could do about it.

Orchestrating the offense and drilling shots that kept the Celtics at bay and hushed TD Garden, Westbrook scored 31 points, had 6 assists, and grabbed 4 rebounds in Oklahoma City’s 89-84 win.

The Thunder blew up the Celtics’ five-game home winning streak and temporarily checked their egos.

“Veteran teams should know better and we didn’t,’’ Rivers said. “You could see it. On both ends, there was no urgency the entire night.’’

What the Celtics assumed they’d get was a listless team missing its key component. Instead, they got a feisty one trying to win without him.

“You know what I think: We just didn’t start the game with the right mind-set,’’ Paul Pierce said. “We knew what they were going to do. When you have Durant sitting out, along with Jeff Green, Westbrook is going to bring his ‘A’ game, and the rest of these guys feel like there is an opportunity for them to step up. They stepped up tonight.

“Unfortunately, our defense didn’t kick in, a little bit too late. You’ve got to give credit where credit’s due. I think we kind of eased into the game. And then once when we got into the game, we’re down trying to claw our way back in. That’s what happens when you got a team who’s desperate without two of their best players. You give the other guys confidence, and you can get surprised any given day in the NBA.’’

The pace was slow, and it seemed like every shot fell. The Celtics shot 55.3 percent in the first half; the Thunder shot 57.1 percent.

The defense arrived fashionably late (the teams combined to go 4 of 30 in the fourth quarter), and by then the Thunder had all the momentum.