BSJ Game Report: Celtics 116, Nets 112 - C's survive Durant's explosion to sweep first round series

BROOKLYN, NY -- Everything you need to know about the Boston Celtics win to sweep the Brooklyn Nets, with BSJ insight and information.

IN A NUTSHELL

The Brooklyn Nets never gave up in this game, which I honestly didn’t anticipate. Kevin Durant finally had a Kevin Durant game (39 points, 9 assists, 7 rebounds) and Kyrie Irving came on after a slow start, but the Celtics answered every run, much like they had all series. It looked like the Nets were ripe for the kill shot after the third quarter, but they kept coming and it looked like they might pull this out after Jayson Tatum fouled out. But Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart made plays down the stretch that earned Boston the sweep.

Box Score

HEADLINES

Told ya so: Boston said they weren’t ducking anyone and they showed why. Sure, they had to battle in each of these games because Brooklyn was not the typical 7 seed, but Boston was just better and they became the only team to sweep their first round series this year. (Side note: I’ll take a quick victory lap for my “Celtics in 5” prediction. It was a tiny bit tougher than I anticipated, but once people stopped being blinded by Durant and Irving, it was clear where Boston could attack and beat the Nets).

Surviving without Tatum: First of all, let me just say I’m glad Boston won so we didn’t have to deal with the officiating madness after this game. Tatum fouled out with nearly three minutes to go, but the Celtics were able to hold on.

"First, it was a bad call,” Brown said. “But just being poised. Wanted to just control the game, keep our guys calm and make the right plays. Got sped up one time, but other than that, we played some pretty good basketball down the stretch. Got some good looks and we went and got stops on the other end. Just doing what we do. Playing good team basketball.

Brooklyn is a mess: A parting shot on my way out of Barclays Center: This is what you get when you get into the Kyrie Irving business. 

He went from saying he doesn’t feel like the team has a head coach to now constructing the team with the owner and GM. 

Good luck, Brooklyn.

TURNING POINTS

I’ll go with two again. 

The most obvious is when Durant missed a free throw with :22 left that could have made it a one-point game. Brown grabbed the rebound and pushed the ball up ahead to Smart, who missed a layup, but it was put back in by Al Horford. 

“I saw that nobody was at the rim. Everybody was kind of up, kind of looking like he just missed the free throw. Marcus was open,” Brown said. He also admitted that “it really was a dangerous pass. I really probably shouldn’t have thrown that. It ended up working out, but it definitely probably wasn’t the smartest pass. But it ended up working out, so, shit.”

Durant missed a 3-pointer the next trip down to basically end it. 

The other turning point, though, came in the second quarter. Everyone is going to forget this moment but I think this was huge. 

At the 9:52 mark and the game tied at 30, Durant had a 3-pointer go halfway down but pop back out. The Nets were on a 9-0 run and this basket would have made it 12. Ime Udoka was two steps onto the court to call timeout, but when the ball rimmed out, he had to quickly duck back onto the sideline. 

This was the only shot attempt Brooklyn had in the game that could have given them the lead. Boston answered with a 12-4 run and even though the Nets made multiple runs to put Boston in dangerous spots, they never had another chance at taking a lead in the game. 

SECOND GUESS

I haven't second-guessed anything in a long time, but the challenge on Tatum’s 5th foul was tough as it seemed even in real time that Blake Griffin had gotten in position to draw the charge. Those bang-bang plays are tough to overturn because there's rarely “conclusive” evidence to do so. If he’d saved the challenge, he could have used it on Tatum’s sixth foul, which really looked like Goran Dragic pulled him down. In the end it was meaningless but moving forward those block/charge calls have to be obvious (like a foot in the restricted area) for them to be changed.

FIVE UP

Jayson Tatum: He got a little extra rest because of the foul trouble, but he put up 29 points on 56.3% shooting. He had 6 turnovers, but two of those were offensive fouls and only one of the other four was a live-ball turnover (and that one ended up being a foul that put Nic Claxton to the line, where he was 1-11 on the night). So it’s not great that he turned it over, but they didn’t hurt as much as they could have. Meanwhile, Tatum is elevating his shot-making in the playoffs. 

Marcus Smart: 20 points, 11 assists, 3-7 shooting from 3, and the game-sealing free throws. He did gamble off Irving, which resulted in a 3-pointer, but the rest of his game was pretty good. 

“Marcus will be Marcus and you live with those moments because most of the time he's going to make the right play, defensively and offensively,” Udoka said. “It takes me back to all those years of Manu and kind of seeing what Pop was going through. He always said, 'Manu being Manu' because you know he's going to gamble at times and burn you but more often than not, he'll make the right play. That's what you have to do with instinctual guys like that, not take their aggressiveness away.”

Jaylen Brown: He wasn’t hitting from deep (0-5) but he had some clutch late drives, something he’d done a lot of in this series. He also had 8 rebounds and 3 assists. 

Grant Williams: Phenomenal defense all series long, including an amazing stop switching onto Durant in the first half. 

Then he went and hit 4-6 from deep to pitch in 14 huge points. 

Al Horford: He hit 3-5 from 3, and each one felt like it came at a perfect time. They were all huge, and then his putback on the Smart miss sealed the game. 

TWO DOWN

Robert Williams: He was rusty in this series after nearly a month off, but it was actually valuable to get him some run. 

Derrick White: Only because he was 0-4 from 3, and he needs to start hitting some shots to add to his already valuable plays. They're going to need him to hit shots moving forward.

TOP PLAYS

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- This sweep could put Boston into the Finals

The 30,000-foot view of this would simply suggest a 2-seed swept a 7-seed. The reality of this series goes much deeper. 

There are two reasons for this take. First, getting nearly a week to get Robert Williams back up to speed is huge. 

“We can use this week to prep him back in, continue to rehab and build on his body and then get him more confident to his normal minutes,” Udoka said “So it was great to see everyone out there in those two games, even though the minutes were lower and he did have some rust. We relied on our other guys to hold it down til he's back and we feel confident that he'll be ready by next game.”

The Celtics gave themselves the luxury of slowly working Williams back into live basketball without hurting anything they were trying to do against Durant and Irving. It’s kind of amazing that Boston was able to use a first round playoff series in that manner, but they got away with it. 

Now the extra days of him hitting the practice floor gives the team time to prep for the Milwaukee Bucks (assuming they handle their business on Wednesday and close out the Chicago Bulls) with their starting center and very likely All-Defensive team center. 

Beyond that, though, is the confidence built from going up against elite players, in a series that many saw going very differently, and sweeping them. 

“Our mindset was that we were probably going to have to play them eventually,” Tatum said. “So we took on that challenge and we knew it was going to be tough. And I think that was good for us. Just knowing who they’ve got on their team and what they’re capable of had us that much more locked in from the first game. Even though we swept them, buzzer-beater Game 1, down 17 Game 2, a five-point game with eight minutes left in Game 3. And then we won by four tonight. Every game was tough, but we were locked in from the beginning.”

The Celtics shut Durant down for three games. They followed their plan, tweaked it here and there as needed, and freelanced when they had to. They won in different ways with different heroes, and they did it in four games. 

The confidence out of a game like that can carry a team like this a long way. And now they get their starting center back. Forget the path along the way and who might or might be there. This sweep could be what propels Boston through whoever is in their way.