On April 18, Beijing time, the 2021-22 NBA playoffs were in full swing. In today's East Focus game, the Celtics played at home to the Nets. In the regular season, the Green Army ranked 2nd in the East with 51 wins and 31 losses, and the Nets beat the Cavaliers 48 wins and 34 losses in the playoffs to take the 7th place in the East!
No sooner had the match begun than Tatum committed a foul and was on the free throw line. However, in the first quarter, Tatum did not show his personal offensive ability, he only made one shot without hitting, and scored four points from the free throws. But in organizing the team's attack, Tatum gave four assists to his teammates in a single quarter. In one of the goals, Tatum directly cut off the opponent, assisting Horford in the fast attack to attack the basket!
Entering the second quarter, Tatum quickly hit a shot. In the second half of the quarter, Tatum hit two consecutive shots before hitting a 45-degree three-point shot from the left. It is worth mentioning that one of the goals, Tatum in the low position with the ball back to single Durant, in the face of Durant's close defense, Tatum directly back shot shot is very crisp, Durant tried to save but to no avail. Throughout the second quarter, Tatum had 11 points and three assists.
After entering the third quarter, Tatum again faced Durant's defensive backhand shot, and then he repeatedly hit the basket to cause a foul to stand on the free throw line, and after hitting a 45-point three-pointer on the right, Tatum led the Green Army to a 12-point lead. Tatum's best performance came at the end of the quarter, when he gave Durant a block in the defensive round and then singled out Clarkston to hit a three-pointer to lead the Greens 96:85 to the Nets by 11 points to end the first three quarters. In this quarter, Tatum scored 12 points!
After the final quarter began, Tatum caused a foul to stand on the free throw line, and the fans sent him an MVP call. However, the Green Army fell into a scoring drought and was reversed by the Nets. In the last leg before the finale, the Green Army trailed by 1 point, Jaylen Brown gave the ball to Smart, after Smart passed to Tatum, Tatum made a basket and hit the whistle, and the Green Army completed the kill!
In the end, the Celtics beat the Nets 115:114 to give the Green Army series a 1-0 lead! Tatum played 45 minutes today, shooting 9-of-19, including 8 three-pointers, 10 of 12 free throws, and a total of 31 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, and he completed the first playoff kill of his career and the first NBA playoff game this season!
According to the schedule, the two teams will meet in the second leg of the series on April 21, and the Celtics will continue to play at home.