The Boston Celtics beat the Brooklyn Nets again to go 2-0 in the series and put aside the weight of history, which says that the Celtic team is 40-1 in the playoffs in the 41 series that began dominating 2- 0 and that were played to 7 games.
Beyond that historical message that the Celtics send to the Nets after today’s 114-107, Boston sends a message to the entire NBA, that it is one of the teams to beat right now in the playoffs once it has assimilated the guidelines that Ime Udoka he wanted to impose on his squad as the necessary seed for a change of direction.
That change of course is already here. It is not infallible, but it has been palpable for a long time. The physical state of the squad is the starting point of everything. These Celtics are very fine in form and substance, a physical freshness that allows them to defend at a premium level when the team needs it most and that makes it easier for them to close games like they never did before.
It happened again in this second game against the Nets. This second assault was not at the basketball level of the first in terms of offense and emotional charge, but it was in terms of physical display. It was a physical encounter to the core and it was that extreme bodily demand that took away Kevin Durantexcellently approached from the Udoka board, since Kyrie Irvingtotally lost after his exhibition of the first meeting.
This second clash was a game of subversion of the preconceived terms, of breaking the usual ways of play of one team and the other, because for a good part of the night it was the side who took command of the field and the stars who They survived as best they could on the track.
Boston trailed by 17 points in the first half and went into the break conceding 65 points (55-65), but in the second half they adjusted the many imbalances suffered in that first half to bring their defense to where it used to be in the recent times, leaving the Nets with 42 points in the second half and completely drying up their rival’s offensive game in the fourth quarter.
The start of the final quarter hid the key to victory. Brooklyn got bogged down. Partial 23-6 in 10 minutes of play for 108-96 after two actions of Jayson Tatum, crucial again in the final stretch. From losing by 17 to winning by 12, with the Nets bogged down in offense to the point that Kevin Durant went 0-for-10 from the field after the break and between him and Kyrie Irving they went 1-for-17.
The auction was put by a basket of Marcus Smartwho played with a touched finger, on the buzzer of possession (110-100 with 1:09 left) and a couple of baskets Payton Pritchardwho scored 8 points in the last quarter, being important as it was Jaylen Brownwho added 10 in the final quarter to end up leading his team with 22 points, 6 assists and 3 steals.
Celtics played with a rotation of 8 and 7 of those 8 players scored 10 or more points, with Tatum in 19 points and 10 assists, but with 5 of 16 shooting, and with great secondary games that were main, like Grant Williams (17 points without any failure in the shot), Al Horford (16 points, 6 rebounds and 60% shooting before committing his sixth foul down the stretch) or Daniel Theis (15 points).
Tremendous work by the Dominican Horford in the two games played, multiplying in the absence of Robert Williams III.
Brooklyn dominated the first half, reaching a 17-point advantage (45-62) after a devilish change of pace from Durant and was always ahead until a shot by Pritchard made it 94-92 with just under 8 minutes left. of the game, although at 3:21 from the end of the third quarter Boston had warned, tying the game at 79 with a basket by Theis.
Not even the elimination of Horford with 2:42 left did not discourage the Celtics, who by then were already leading by 9 points.
Durant was the leading scorer for the Nets with 27 points, but his 18-for-20 free throws contrasted with his 4-for-17 shooting in play. Actually, the best away player was Bruce Brownwho started the game as a shot to finish it with 23 points and 8 rebounds. Goran Dragic offered a great second quarter and finished the game with 18 points in 20 minutes of action and Seth Curry he managed 16 points, being successful from the triple. That is to say, the Brooklyn secondary pulled the bandwagon before the fateful night of the team’s headliners.
On the downside… Kyrie Irving, who went from showing his richest version in the first game to offering his poorest image in the second, finishing with 10 points, 1 assist and 4 of 13 shooting between the boos that do not stop in the Garden.
The game had the retired in the stands Mike Krzyzewski, a legend who was able to see some of his former Duke boys like Tatum, Irving or Curry live. He can now take a break after a lifetime on the bench, the Celtics and Nets can’t, because they are in the middle of a battle, a raw, playoff battle without half measures.