The performance of Brooklyn Nets fluctuated in the first few games of the 2021 NBA playoffs against the Boston Celtics.
Over the past week the Nets took on the Celtics for games 2, 3 and 4 in the first round. “The Big 3” and teammates learned there is more needed to gel together after winning game 2 in Brooklyn, losing game 3 before winning game 4 in Boston.
“We talked a lot about how this is such a new group,” said Nets ffirst year head coach Steve Nash in his pregame interview for game 2. “Our two main kind of 5’s have never played together before the last game. So that’s important for us to try to make the most of these opportunities to grow and get better.”
Photo: Special to the NY Beacon
Nash responded to a question about the advantage of having a fast start to a game. The Nets ended up having an excellent game 2 with a fast paced start and early defense and offense, compared to the slow start in Game 1. Brooklyn was ahead 40-26 by the end of first quarter. Joe Harris contributed with 16 of those points as the leading scorer. Boston tried to break through. Celtics Kemba Walker spun in and out of players as he headed for the basket, while teammate Tristin Thompson grabbed rebounds and passes from teammates underneath the basket, but Brooklyn was relentless and led 71 to 47 at halftime. There were some injuries. The Nets tweeted, shortly after halftime that Jeff Green would not return to the game due to a bruised left foot. Green had six total points at halftime. The Celtics tweeted in the third quarter that Jayson Tatum would be out the remainder of the game after getting poked in the right eye. The Nets won 130-108. Kevin Durant led the team with 26 points and Joe Harris with 25 points. Harris improved from game 1, when he scored 10 points.
“To be honest I’m more so concerned about our defense, but offensively, when Joe gets it going like that, that unlocks our whole team,” Durant said in his post game interview following game 2.
Blake Griffin also improved. He had 11 points in Game 2 verses one point in Game 1. “Good night for all of us to play off one another and make easy reads,” Irving said.
The Nets lacked the same fervor in Game 3. Brooklyn missed shots and the Celtics made theirs, as Durant mentioned in his post-game interview following game 3. “I feel like they made shots tonight,” Durant said about the biggest issues the Nets faced on defense in the post game interview. “Especially Tatum. He had some tough ones over us tonight. I don’t think he got anything easy, but for a score like that, once you start to see the ball go into the rim, it just pushed that team to another level.”
Tatum stepped up and led Boston with 50 points.
The Nets initially came out strong and trailed only 32 to 33 at the end of the first quarter, but were behind 57-61 at halftime. The Celtics went on a run with about 4:03 minutes remaining in the third quarter. Boston fired away making shots and went to the free throw line. The Nets didn’t make another shot until they were down 77-91 with about 2:00 minutes remaining in the third quarter. Harden was fouled and went to the foul line and made two shots.
“We stopped guarding,” Harden said about the initial strong start and the fading intensity. “When we stop guarding, teams are going to shoot the ball and get hot.”
The Nets lost 119-125. Harden led the Nets with 41 points. Irving may have created some pressure for himself following his response in the Game 2 post game conference about his return to Boston, where he played before Brooklyn.
“I mean it’s not my first time being an opponent in Boston,” he said. “I’m just looking forward to competing with my teammates and hopefully we can just keep it strictly basketball, there’s no belligerence or racism going on, subtle racism and people yelling from the crowd.”
The Boston crowd taunted him with boos in game 3. However, he had 15 total points in game 2 and 16 total points in game 3. Irving has been vocal and active regarding unity and social justice. Coach Nash had also expressed the importance prior to game 2 in his pregame interview as he offered condolences to the family of George Floyd, in response to the one-year anniversary of his killing.
“Social justice is a very, very important issue in our country and in our world,” Nash said. “It’s about education, conversation and action and the more people that are talking about it that are educating themselves on it and they’re finding a way to get more active, it’s only going to help us have a better country, better society, better community and have more love for one another.”
Brooklyn returned with vengeance in game 4. Kyrie was focused. Brooklyn led 73-60 at halftime and defeated the Celtics 141-126. Both teams played aggressively throughout the game. Durant led the Nets with 42 total points and Irving with 39 total points.
“It’s Kyrie Irving,” said Nash said in the press conference following game 4. “He didn’t have a great game last time out. My money is on him. Anytime after a performance like he had, where he couldn’t quite get into the game in game 3. I had a good feeling about him tonight and he was outstanding.”
Brooklyn will face Milwaukee if they closed out the series this past Tuesday night. The Bucks swept the Miami who lost to the Heat in last year’s playoffs in five games…
