Much has been said about the unstoppable attack of the Celtics in the first part of the season, but the truth is that when the season is halfway over, Boston begins to add victories from its defense, and that is still a great sign for the team.
Brooklyn Nets faced their first game after the knee injury of Kevin Durant and the team did not respond badly, except that when Boston tightened defense in the final quarter, the Nets got dark.
A 2-16 run in the last quarter broke the match, placing the Celtics with a 12 lead (84-96) and forcing Jacque Vaughn to call a timeout with 7 minutes to play. But it was of no use. Because the Celtics did not slack off in the slightest and with a 2+1 Jayson Tatumbeautiful melee under the hoop, the game was practically over with 2:43 remaining, with a score then of 91-104.
Celtics recovered Marcus Smart y Robert Williams IIIwho did not play the previous game, and did so as starters, while they fell out of the game Jaylen Brown y Al Horford, two very heavy losses, but these Celtics have behind them a group work strong enough to continue being a great team without Horford and without Brown. They already have 5 victories in a row, they are placed 31-12 and they put more and more land in the middle in the East with respect to their immediate followers.
Meanwhile, although the Nets have responded well, Kevin Durant’s shadow is long. We’ll see how the team does without his big star.
Durant’s loss was especially noticeable when it came time to decide the game. Brooklyn got stuck in attack and missed Durant a lot. Because that jam was monumental, with the locals scoring only 16 points in the entire last quarter, with a series of 6 of 19 on the shot and with 5 turnovers. The Nets’ game was clouded as they squeezed, and really squeezed, the Celtics defense.
Tatum didn’t have a good day shooting, 7-for-22, but he had 20 points and 11 rebounds. He was one of 6 Boston players with double figures scored. Great game by Marcus Smart despite not being good shooting either: 16 points, 10 assists and 6 rebounds. Malcolm Brogdon added 16 points in 20 minutes and Derrick White he had 15 points, 7 rebounds and 4 of 7 on the triple.
The second Bostonian unit was very good, because, in addition to Brogdon, they contributed a lot Luke Kornet and a Payton Pritchard which was very important in the final quarter.
Boston overwhelmingly dominated the rebound and applied one hundred percent defense down the stretch.
Brooklyn, meanwhile, had Kyrie Irving with 24 points and 6 assists, but with 9 of 24 shooting.
The good news for the team, the performances of T. J. Warren -20 points- and Joe Harris -18 with success from the triple-.
And then there’s Ben Simmons, who gives one of lime and one of sand. He loaded himself with fouls and didn’t score a single point in the entire game, but he grabbed 9 rebounds and gave 13 assists (10 in the first half). He always brings something to the Australian. good first part of Seth Curry and intermittent moments of Claxton y O’Neale.
Brooklyn is left with an overall record of 27-14.
Face to face with two coaches who did not expect to lead the Nets and the Celtics before the start of the season. They are both doing very well. Today, hammer he got the better of Vaughn.
