Nets unable to stop Jaylen Brown as loss to Celtics ends four-game win streak
Sunday marked the first time the Nets had faced Boston since last season’s humbling first-round playoff sweep at the hands of the Celtics. It was a test, a measuring stick to see how far they’ve come in the seven months since.
Against the top team in the NBA — on pace for the best offense in history — the Nets were found wanting, beaten 103-92 in front of a sellout crowd of 18,043 at Barclays Center.
Even though the Nets acquitted themselves well defensively, and Kevin Durant (team-high 31 points) played Jayson Tatum to a standstill, they couldn’t handle Jaylen Brown the same way Boston smothered Kyrie Irving. That — and the Celtics’ edge from outside — was the game.
“They looked great last year; it’s carried over to this year,” Durant said. “They’ve got more experience, another year. Going to the Finals definitely helps you as a team, brings you closer. [Tatum] is a year older, [Brown] is a year older. Their guys are just getting more experience every day, and their record shows.
“They’re a big team, they shoot the ball well, they got good length. So you’ve got to match that if you want to compete. We don’t have a big margin for error.”
Boston ran that league-best record to 19-5, aiming to go a step past last season’s Finals berth and claim the title. Sunday, the Celtics’ defense looked championship-worthy.
The Nets held the Celtics to just 43.2 percent shooting. But they allowed Boston to go 15-for-38 from deep, while making just nine 3-pointers themselves.
The Nets didn’t have injured Ben Simmons to help on Brown, who was the best player on the floor with a game-high 34 points, 10 rebounds, four blocks and two steals. Tatum added 29.
“Definitely would have wanted to see Ben, see what it looks like,” coach Jacque Vaughn said. “Another defender out there, someone who could push the pace against them. Next time. … Look forward to it.”
Even without Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart to put on Irving, the latter still managed just a quiet 18 points on 7-for-21 shooting.
“It’s the same defensive principles [as last season],” Irving said. “They sell out on our drives and make us pass; so crowd the paint.”
But there were differences. Boston had mercilessly doubled and blitzed Durant to smother him in last season’s sweep, and did very little of that for most of the night. But after the Nets had hunted matchups and outscored them 19-13 in the third quarter, Boston pulled out the doubles in the fourth to turn the tables 28-23.
“They just made timely plays,” Durant said.
“We did a lot of hitting, trapping and double-teaming,” Celtics guard Malcolm Brogdon admitted.
Durant committed four of his eight turnovers in the fourth quarter, as the Nets shot 7 of 19. Tatum had nine turnovers — the price to be paid for high usage — but the difference was his running mate Brown was unstoppable.
“I’m just glad we won. Nine turnovers; that’s ridiculous,” Tatum said.
The Nets ran out to a quick 11-2 lead, but allowed 14 unanswered points to fall behind by five.
Joe Harris knotted the score at 48-all on a 3-pointer with 4:09 left in the second quarter. But after having played a clean game with just two turnovers to that point, the Nets shot 1-for-5 and with three giveaways the rest of the half. They conceded a 14-2 blitz and went into the locker room trailing by 12.
Brooklyn never got closer than two. Durant pulled the Nets within 78-74 on a 3-pointer, then found Harris on a cutting layup to make it 78-76 with 7:22 left. But they never got over the hump and ran out of gas.
“You just look at the defensive numbers, at the quarters: 35, 27, 13, 28,” Vaughn said. “My heartbeat was [like it was] watching USA versus Netherlands. We want it more like when my wife watches those Hallmark movies; just nice and across the board. A little bit more consistency.”
