Crowd’s roar can’t help Celtics in 141-126 Game 4 loss to Nets

When Kevin Durant came out for his pre-game warmup, and started out with an exercise ball, there was a small but noisy pocket of fans in that end to boo him, and they serenaded the Nets star through his anything-but-solitary shooting routine.

By the time the allowed 17,226 were in the house, the chants and boos were so constant, loud and varied, “sucks” was the only discernible word.

Less discernible, beyond a first quarter when the Celtics clearly fed off the crowd’s thunderous energy, was a tangible result. Kyrie Irving had quite the answer for his haters — a 39-point performance — and with familiar issues creeping back into the mix, the Celtics dropped Game 4 of their first-round series to Brooklyn, 141-126.

The loss left them in a 3-1 series hole, with Game 5 back in the Barclays Center on Tuesday.

Not even a powerful 40-point performance from Jayson Tatum, including 17-for-17 shooting from the line, was going to turn this one around.

Tatum’s 18-point third quarter didn’t move the needle. The Celtics, after falling behind by as many as 27 points, trailed heading into the fourth by a 112-91 score. Durant had 36 points, Irving another 31, and with the Celtics shooting only 39.7%, little help appeared to be on the way.

Especially when a clearly pleased Irving opened the fourth by burying back-to-back bombs from the top of the arc. Seconds later a group of fans shouted and pointed at the former Celtic from the team-side end zone, and Irving took a moment before inbounding the ball to glare back at them.

But the trajectory of the score considered, he already had the last word.

Though Irving had the big first half with 23 points, Harden (17) and Durant (19) had all done their part to pull away from the Celtics in the second quarter for a 73-60 halftime lead.

Tatum was shut down in a scoreless second after a 14-point first quarter, and was then 3-for-10 from the floor — a shooting number matched by Evan Fournier. In reality they could consider themselves fortunate to only be trailing by 13 points, their offensive stagnancy considered.

As evidenced by Irving’s three-free-throw trip to the line less than a minute into the third, courtesy of Fournier, the trend would continue. And the Nets picked up gradual steam, with Durant and Joe Harris — unleashed again — hitting 3-pointers on the way to an 86-68 lead with 7:25 left in the third.

Irving finished off a tip dunk, of all things, for Brooklyn’s first 20-point lead, and with a 10-2 run, led by 24.

The Celtics closed strong, with Tatum and Aaron Nesmith — the latter with 2.3 seconds left — hitting back-to-back threes. But it only cut the Nets lead to 112-91.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3wBJhH4