Boston Sweeps Brooklyn In A 116-112 Game 4 Win & Rolls To The Second Round Of The Playoffs

 

    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.

The Celtics Have Officially Broken The Nets, Taking A 3-0 Series Lead With A 109-103 Game 3 Victory

 

    So it turns out that we should not have feared the Nets at all this postseason. They are complete frauds as proven by Boston's 109-103 win tonight in Game 3 of the first round at the Barclays Center to take a 3-0 series lead. Boston's superstar swingman Jayson Tatum (game-high 39 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, career-high 6 steals) was absolutely brilliant, shooting guard Jaylen Brown added 23 points, five assists and two steals while point guard Marcus Smart notched 14 points, six assists and two steals. Both of Brooklyn's stars were nowhere to be found as power forward Kevin Durant was held to 16 points, eight rebounds and eight assists and point guard Kyrie Irving had a similarly uninspiring performance of 16 points, nine assists and three steals in a must-win situation. Game 4 is Monday (7, NBC Sports Boston) at Barclays, you can hear the Nets mumbling "1-2-3 Cancun" already while head coach Steve Nash prepares to return to broadcasting Champions League soccer or some other random gig. 

    Given that no NBA team has ever rallied to win a playoff series when they have trailed 0-3, you figured that Brooklyn would show at least a little pride and play with some urgency from the start tonight. Not so much as Boston led 30-25 after the first quarter and 53-50 at halftime. The C's owned the third quarter (28-22) and hung on in the fourth quarter as the Nets made some three-pointers in garbage time to outscore them 31-28 in the final frame. One of the big storylines of this contest was the juxtaposition of Celts center Robert Williams returning less than a month after arthroscopic surgery on his knee while Ben Simmons continues to appear exclusively on Brooklyn's bench in his cartoonish outfits. Haha we'll see if he still returns in Game 4, what's the point? 

    Boston didn't get as much from their role players in Game 3 but those guys still made some valuable contributions: power forward Daniel Theis had nine points and six rebounds, center Al Horford's (2 blocks) lone basket was a clutch three-pointer in the fourth quarter, point guard Payton Pritchard notched 10 points off the bench for the second game in a row and power forward Grant Williams put up seven points and five rebounds in 32 minutes off the bench. Dorchester native and Nets small forward Bruce Brown was great yet again as he submitted a career-high for the second straight game with a team-high 26 points, eight rebounds and two steals, shooting guard Seth Curry had 10 points, center Nic Claxton (who should be starting!) added 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench while veteran point guard Patty Mills notched 12 points as a substitute. 

    Celtics head coach Ime Udoka has made Nash look like a fool in these first three games. I loved Nash as a player but he is so overmatched in this situation, he rolled with the same lineup in Game 3 and he appears incapable of making any type of in-game adjustments. Then again, what do you expect from a guy that had never been a head coach before this? Boston's defense was really good as they had six more steals than Brooklyn (13-7) and four less turnovers (18-14). The Celtics just outworked and outhustled the Nets, as they posted eight more points in the paint (50-42), 16 more fast break points (25-9) and 12 more points off turnovers (37-25). All three games in this series have been decided by single-digits but there has been no doubt who the better team is. Monday should be fun as I fully expect Brooklyn to fold like you read about.

Instant Classic: Celtics Beat The Nets 115-114 In Game 1 On Jayson Tatum's Buzzer-Beating Layup

 

    For the Celtics, the 2022 NBA playoffs began this afternoon at TD Garden vs. the Nets and when it was over, we were all treated to an Easter miracle. Boston had led by as much as 15 points (84-69) in the third quarter before unraveling in the fourth quarter as Brooklyn outscored them 29-19. Thankfully, the C's made one final winning play to escape with a thrilling 115-114 victory (their first playoff buzzer-beater since Paul Pierce vs. Miami in 2010!) in Game 1 of the first round. Celts shooting guard Jaylen Brown (23 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals, 2 blocks) started the sequence by driving to the basket before finding point guard Marcus Smart (20 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals) who surprisingly passed up a hero three-pointer and threaded a pass to Boston's superstar small forward Jayson Tatum (team-high 31 points, 8 assists, 2 blocks) for a spinning layup as time expired. 

    This would have been a crushing loss for the home team and we all know in the NBA how important home court is along with the outcome of Game 1s. We got the full Kyrie Irving experience as the Nets mercurial point guard dropped a game-high 39 points, six assists, five rebounds and four steals while he also made fun of the TD Garden crowd and flipped them off on multiple occasions. Happy Ramadan everybody! Kyrie probably won't have a better game in this series while conversely his fellow star Kevin Durant (23 points, 6 turnovers) could never really get things going. What are the odds that Brooklyn's normally unstoppable power forward shoots 9-of-24 from the field again vs. Boston? Answer: highly unlikely. 

    The unexpected star for the Celtics in Game 1 was center Al Horford (20 points, 15 rebounds) who was forced to play 41 minutes at age 35 with Robert Williams likely out for this series. The Nets bench is not one of the strengths of their team but they outscored the Celtics 30-17. Boston killer and ageless point guard Goran Dragic had 14 points and five rebounds while bouncy power forward Nic Claxton added 13 points, eight rebounds and three blocks (while he went 1-for-5 on free throws). One of the main reasons that the C's were able to survive this contest was their dominance on the glass: they had 14 more total rebounds (43-29) including nine more offensive boards (14-5). Boston is not the biggest team in the league but against Brooklyn, they have to take advantage of their size around the basket. 

    Boston led 29-28 after the first quarter and it was tied at 61 at halftime. The Celtics got rolling in the third quarter (35-24) before their offense mostly disappeared in the fourth quarter. This being the NBA, Game 2 won't happen until Wednesday (7, NBC Sports Boston). After losing in five games last season to Brooklyn in the first round (the Nets are 3-0 all-time in playoff series vs. the C's), Boston will have to flush this result and get focused on the next matchup. Durant and Irving are spectacular talents but let's be honest, the rest of the Nets (including first-time head coach Steve Nash) are much less impressive. The Celts are deeper, play better team basketball and have a legitimately qualified head coach in Ime Udoka. Then again, the league has always been and will always be superstar driven so we have to hope that Tatum and Brown at least play Durant and Irving to a draw. PS is there any chance that Kyrie leaves his Four Seasons (I'm assuming Brooklyn is staying there) hotel suite for anything but practice these next few days? Haha he will be booed non-stop no matter where he shows up around the city this week.