NEW YORK — The Nets did not play championship-level basketball on Saturday. Thanks to their roster composition, championship-level basketball wasn’t necessary.
This is what happens when you assemble a roster featuring three of the best scorers and playmakers in NBA history. The Nets had possibly their worst first quarter of the season and trailed by as many as 12, but erased all their mistakes on the backs of their Big 3 in a 104-93 win that reaffirmed this team’s standing as a playoff juggernaut.
The bottom line for these Nets is in: No opponent’s lead is safe until the final buzzer sounds.
It was a start from a basketball horror flick. The Nets did not make any of their first 12 3-point attempts. They turned the ball over. The Big 3 couldn’t buy a big basket. Kevin Durant missed eight of his first 10 shots.
In all, the Nets scored just 16 points in the first quarter.
Yet they only trailed by five after one, and after an equally inefficient second quarter, they entered halftime down just six. The Celtics could not take advantage of the Nets’ poor shooting. Their window closed shortly after. Bona fide scorers don’t stay cold long.
Durant is as pure a scorer as there is in the NBA. After his 2-of-10 start, he shot 8 of 15 from the field. Durant finished with a game-high 32 points and 12 rebounds, his 39th career playoff double-double. It was his first playoff game since rupturing his Achilles in the 2019 NBA Finals as a member of the Golden State Warriors.
Durant’s Achilles looked intact on Saturday. He crashed to the ground after plowing through Marcus Smart on an offensive foul, then sprung to his feet from the hardwood. Shortly after, Joe Harris hit Brooklyn’s first 3 of the game, with 2:18 left in the second quarter.
It was a nightmare shooting night for the Celtics, as well. After a hot start from the field, Jayson Tatum finished with 22 points on 6-of-20 shooting from the field. Kemba Walker could barely buy a basket, either, with 15 points on 16 shot attempts. Boston’s best player on the night was center Robert Williams, who may as well have been wearing a Dikembe Mutombo jersey. Williams finished with 11 points, nine rebounds and nine blocks in just 23 minutes, swatting every shot he could get his fingertips on, and altering the shots just outside his grasp.
Kyrie Irving finished with 29 points on 11-of-20 shooting from the field. Irving claimed two sets of ankles on the night, first with a flurry of crossovers that sent Evan Fournier to his knees, then a sharp right-to-left crossover that left Boston’s Payton Pritchard stuck in his tracks.
James Harden made his fair share of plays, too, including a side-step 3 in the third quarter that gave the Nets their first lead of the game. He finished with 21 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
The Big 3 combined to shoot 11 of 32 in the first half. They responded in the second half by making 15 of their 25 attempts.
The Nets’ performance on Saturday should have put the rest of the conference on notice. They played poorly to start and weren’t particularly sharp to finish, either.
That’s why you back up the Brinks truck and pay the stars when they become available. Star power covers up mistakes, especially when the stars shine bright down the stretch.
