Who had the Celtics being the only team to sweep their opponent (the Nets) in the first round of the NBA playoffs this postseason? What seemed hard to believe came true tonight at Barclays Center as Boston held off Brooklyn 116-112 to abruptly end the series 4-0 in favor of the C's. If you were worried about how the Celts would do in close games, this was the fourth time already this postseason that the contest was decided by single-digits. The Nets knew that it was over before this one had even started but they made it interesting in the fourth quarter as they outscored the Celtics 34-26. Boston advances to the second round for the fifth time in the last six seasons where they will likely face the Bucks who lead the Bulls 3-1 with Game 5 in Milwaukee on Wednesday night (7:30, TNT).
Just like Nets point guard Kyrie Irving (20 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks) in Game 1, power forward Kevin Durant exploded for 39 points along with nine assists and seven rebounds. It took Durant 31 shots to get 39 points and he was 3-for-11 on three-pointers but it was still by far his best performance of the series. Likewise, Brooklyn's shooting guard Seth Curry added 23 points in his top outing in the four games. Power forward Nic Claxton had 13 points, six rebounds, three blocks and two steals but he broke Shaq's infamous playoff record by missing his first 10 (!!!) free throws of the night. Point guard Goran Dragic (10 points, 8 rebounds) was also good off of Brooklyn's bench one last time.
For Boston, shooting guard Jaylen Brown notched 22 points and eight rebounds while point guard Marcus Smart was great with 20 points, 11 assists and five rebounds and ageless center Al Horford added 13 points and six rebounds. Boston's bench was led by power forward Grant Williams (14 points, 3 blocks) and point guard Derrick White (9 points, 6 rebounds). The Nets certainly didn't want to go back to Boston for pointless Game 5 and for the first three quarters, the Celtics made sure of that. The C's led 30-26 after the first quarter and 58-50 at halftime. The C's were up double-digits going into the fourth quarter, as they led 90-78. Boston scored 12 more points in the paint than Brooklyn (44-32) and they grabbed seven more rebounds overall (45-38) including five more defensive boards (35-30) and two more offensive boards (10-8).
Considering that Milwaukee has blown out Chicago in the last two games, I fully expect them to beat the Bulls on Wednesday but it would be nice to see Chicago extend the series (don't count on that) and give Boston a little more rest not that they really need it after a sweep. Regardless whenever it starts, a Celtics-Bucks playoff series would be epic. Giannis is the best player in the world right now and even with shooting guard Khris Middleton-their other All-Star-out, Milwaukee is still the defending champ and a team that has given the Celts problems for years. This is why Boston pushed for that two-seed though, they will have home court for the next series which as we all know is typically a huge factor in the NBA playoffs.
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