BOSTON – What a technique to lose a recreation.
After the Nets got here again from down 15 to take a three-point lead with underneath a minute to go within the fourth quarter, and after Kyrie Irving carried the burden of a whole franchise on his shoulders with a masterful efficiency towards his previous workforce, Celtics star Jayson Tatum beat the buzzer with a whirling layup on the ultimate possession of the fourth quarter to seal a 115-114 victory over the Nets in Game 1.
Kevin Durant’s feel and appear of dejection stated all of the phrases he couldn’t muster after a very poor efficiency of his personal.
“I had the most turnovers, six of them,” he stated, shaking his head. “They beat us by one point. It’s just a tough loss, man, it’s hard to just pinpoint one thing.”
Celtics large man Al Horford grabbed a rebound off a Durant miss — certainly one of 15 in a depressing, 9-of-24 capturing evening for Hall of Fame-bound scorer — and acquired the ball to Jaylen Brown, who pushed the ball up the suitable aspect of the ground, then drove baseline, collapsing the Nets’ protection.
Irving stated he thought Brown was going to shoot whereas underneath the basket. Instead Brown stored his dribble alive and located Marcus Smart on the wing, the place two defenders rushed to shut out on the three.
Smart head-faked, getting each Nets defenders into the air, then acquired into the lane, the place Tatum made a pointy lower to the basket.
“I was left with two guys on the back side,” Irving recalled postgame. “So I had to make a choice.”
He selected to defend Tatum, who acquired the ball then instantly spun round Irving and laid the ball in simply milliseconds earlier than the ultimate buzzer sounded.
“(It stings) a lot,” veteran guard Goran Dragic stated postgame. “You know we went up three points…what 35, 40 seconds left of the game? … Hell of a play from Tatum. Just to be aware to spin and lay it up was tough.”
And now, the Celtics lead the first-round collection, 1-0, after the Nets appeared like they had been in place to steal Game 1 earlier than the tide turned late within the fourth.
Irving scored 39 factors on 12-of-20 capturing from the sector and carried the load whereas Durant turned in certainly one of his worst performances since coming back from a sprained MCL that derailed his season. The Nets, a workforce constructed largely on starpower even after the James Harden deal, missed a standout efficiency from their famous person ahead.
“They did a good job of forcing me away and then helping in the paint,” Durant stated after the sport. “I just gotta be more fundamental in my moves. I feel like some shots went in and out for me today, but I played fast and turned the ball over. I’ve just got to slow down and play my game, but they did a good job of making me see bodies.”
Yet the Nets nonetheless had an opportunity, even after blowing the opening minutes of the third quarter and permitting the Celtics to take management of the sport. And even after an uncharacteristic poor capturing efficiency from a participant with 4 NBA scoring titles who was on tempo for a fifth earlier than the MCL sprain rendered him ineligible for the consideration as a result of he didn’t meet the standards for video games performed in a season.
If the Nets wish to proper their wrongs for Game 2, they’ll’t lose focus like they did on the prime of the third quarter.
Good groups make you pay for unforced errors, and nice groups put you in debt, which is the place the Nets discovered themselves after a flurry of turnovers and forfeited offensive rebounds that gave the Celtics momentum to start out the third quarter.
The Celitcs went on an 11-2 run to punch their technique to a 15-point third quarter lead. The Nets spent a lot of the rest of the sport digging themselves out of that gap.
“Just a lack of focus on our end,” stated Irving. “(Historically) they really come out in the third quarter and try to put their stamp on the game, create that separation, that way they can just pace out the game. So moving forward, we just gotta be aware of that when we’re coming out in the third quarter, we’re really just gonna put the foot on the gas pedal and just be aware.”
The Nets punched again with a 15-2 begin to the fourth interval, however the basketball gods have a approach of laughing final. The Nets cheated the sport by popping out undisciplined and unfocused to start out the second half. And they gave an already hostile fanbase gas when Bruce Brown stated with out ahead Robert Wlliams — a Defensive Player of the Year candidate nursing a knee harm — the Nets would assault Al Horford and Daniel Theis.
Horford responded by “My stuff gets done on the court,” then completed Game 1 with 20 factors and 15 rebounds. Brown’s phrases had been proven on the TD Garden jumbotron and booed pregame, and he in the end completed with 5 factors in 37 minutes.
And but this collection is much from over. It’s unlikely Durant has one other uncharacteristically poor capturing evening, and regardless of his struggles, the Nets practically stole Game 1 from the Celtics. The process at hand is now ending enterprise in Game 2.
“Nothing to overthink with Kevin Durant,” Irving stated postgame. “We know who he is. We know he’s going to go back and watch film, prepare.”
“He was doing all the little things and we know how high his expectations are for himself. So we’re not going to overthink it. But we definitely gotta look ourselves in the mirror as a team and see where we can control the little things, the little details that help us be able to close out the game. I feel like we had the game in control and then a final second shot beats us and now we’re sitting here asking questions about hostility and s—.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com