Celtics bounced from playoffs by Brooklyn

The Nets, true to Kevin Durant’s stated hope, don’t have to come back to Boston.

And the Celtics, should they each choose, don’t have to return to their NBA home for awhile, either. Warmer climes beckon for the team that, with Tuesday night’s 123-109 Game 5 loss to Brooklyn, was officially bounced out of the first round of the playoffs.

The Celtics, with Jaylen Brown, Kemba Walker and Robert Williams all sidelined, simply didn’t have the firepower to match one of the great offensive units in NBA history, with Durant (24 points), James Harden (34) and Kyrie Irving (25) all, per usual, making all of the necessary shots.

Jayson Tatum, who had scored 90 points over the previous two games, simply couldn’t carry the offense for one more night under these conditions, though his 32-point performance was the highlight on a night when the Celtics just couldn’t make shots.

They now head into a cloudy offseason, where management has difficult decisions to make after the most disappointing season of the Brad Stevens era.

Tatum’s nine-point third quarter not only helped the Celtics stay within reach — his 20-footer over Durant at the buzzer cut the Brooklyn lead to 86-79 — it gave them late hope.

He had 20 points after three quarters, and was clearly getting better after a slow second.

And when Brooklyn opened the fourth with an 8-2 run, Tatum stopped the flow with an up-top 3-pointer that cut the lead to 10 points (94-84).

Harden answered with a three-point play that was overturned in Brooklyn’s favor by video review. Tatum, followed by an Evan Fournier three-point play, cut the Brooklyn lead to eight points.

But back-to-back 3-pointers from Durant and Irving pushed the Nets’ lead back up to 103-89 with 7 minutes left. As if by script, and after Fournier’s reverse layup, Harden checked in with a 3-pointer.

The result was a game-salting 15-2 Brooklyn run.

The Celtics did everything right except make shots, played enough defense against a superior opponent to stay within arm’s length, and yet finished the first half in chase mode, trailing, 59-51.

Jabari Parker had an 11-point second quarter — his scoring matched Tatum’s first-half output — and as such the Celtics had some offensive hope beyond Smart’s 2-for-11 heat check.

Romeo Langford even opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer, cutting the margin to five points. And though Langford blocked Harden — a play that drew a rare non-complaint from the Nets guard — the Nets kicked out with a 7-0 run. With 7:21 left in the quarter they had reached a peak 14-point edge.

But the Nets got sloppy, and in the course of three straight turnovers, including a Blake Griffin charge into Marcus Smart, the Celtics hit back with a 7-0 run, including a Tatum 3-pointer that cut the Brooklyn lead to seven points.

And though Irving ended that run with a floater, the Celtics continued to answer, until a Langford 3-pointer cut the Nets lead briefly to six points (79-73).

Brooklyn responded with a 7-2 run, but Tatum had the last laugh with four points in the last 37 seconds, including a 20-footer over Durant at the buzzer, cutting the Nets lead to 86-79.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3yT0Rbx