The Boston Celtics pulled out the straw and had to face the team nobody wanted in the first round of the East: the Brooklyn Nets. Kevin Durant. Kyrie Irving. Veteran role players with rings (pie mills) and awards (Blake Griffin, goran dragic). A team that, on paper, was a real threat.
The Celtics swept the Nets out of the playoffs.
Ime Udoka on the Celtics not avoiding the Nets before the playoffs start: “We said we’re not afraid of anyone and we’re not running for anyone.” pic.twitter.com/aDRzgCH46X
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) April 26, 2022
Boston displayed elite defense, depth and great chemistry for four games, plus they had the best player in the series in Jayson Tatum, which clocked 29 on Monday night. It was all too much for a Nets team that proved too heavy, not big or athletic enough, and lacked chemistry.
The Celtics beat the Nets 116-112 in Game 4 to win the first-round series 4-0 and advance to the second round (where they likely face the Milwaukee Bucks, who are up 3-1 over the Bulls).
Boston also got 22 points from jaylen brown20 points and 11 assists from smart marcusand big men Al-Horford Y grant williams combined for 27 points and seven triples. The Celtics moved the ball throughout the game and relied on each other to make the right play.
Durant struggled in his last game this season, scoring 39 points on 13-for-31 shooting and adding nine assists against the Celtics’ relentless defensive pressure and double-teams. seth curry added 23 for the Nets and Kyrie Irving scored 20.
There were glimpses of the Nets and they made it tight down the stretch. However, the Nets did in Game 4 what they did all series, and all season: defensive mistakes (especially in the clinching minutes), halftime effort, too much isolation leading to a predictable offense, and lack of chemistry to overcome. flaws on your list.
The Nets started the season with the talent on paper to compete, but they were never on the floor together enough to “gel” the way the Celtics had, as Irving noted (even though he was a key reason for ever-changing rotations). There were a lot of factors and changing faces, but Brooklyn didn’t do the little things enough this season, relying on their talent to carry them. Then the Nets had no answers when they met another talented team, one that had worked hard and developed good habits.
Now comes a wild round of autopsies for a Brooklyn team that was the betting favorite to win it all before the season started and then became the only team not to even win a game in the first round. Irving is a free agent and he said again after the game that he didn’t want to leave BrooklynBut how many years are the Nets willing to give him? Will be steve nash come back as coach? Probably, but nothing is set in stone. How do the Nets get younger, more athletic and more defensive with players around Durant and Irving? There are a lot of questions to answer for a front office and an organization that has bowed to the will of its stars for years.
The Celtics come out of this series looking like title contenders. In an East where every team has question marks, and the Bucks have no All-Stars and no Olympians khrismiddleton — Boston has the defense, halfcourt production, chemistry and elite talent to win the East.
First, the Celtics will rest until at least next weekend. They earned it.
Reference-nba.nbcsports.com