In the first round of the playoffs against the Celtics in G1, although the Nets regrettably lost the game, the team also had two major gains, namely the young interior Clarkston and the veteran Dragic, these two players are the team's best role players in the game. On the court, they gave Irving and Durant some help with their efforts, and although their performance did not help the team win, the performance of these two players in this campaign is worthy of recognition.
The first is the performance of the young interior Kraxton, who became the pillar of the team's interior line, and he played 31 minutes off the bench in the whole game, with 13 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks on 6-of-8 shooting, and his plus-minus reached +10 in the game, which ranked second in the team. Although Clarkston had conceded two free throws at the free throw line at key moments in the final quarter, this partly led to the team's defeat. But throughout the game, Clarkston's play is still commendable.
Especially in the first three quarters of the game, when the Celtics played a wave of high-quality offense to open up the point difference, Clarkston's end at the basket gave the team a lot of help, and In terms of rebounding, Clarkston also did a good job, and when Drummond did not play well, Clarkston supported the Nets inside line. Without his play, the Nets would not have been able to hold out into the fourth quarter, and the gap could have widened to more than 20 points.
In this game, Clarkston's performance on the inside and defensive ends is very good, compared to his performance in the playoffs last season, Clarkston has improved very significantly in the playoffs this year, and now he can carry the big flag of the team's inner line and help the team get better in the game. His rapid growth is also a big gain for the Nets in the G1 game.
Another takeaway is the performance of veteran Dragic, who only joined the team in the middle and late season, and he came here for only one goal, that is, to impact the championship. He has repeatedly said he will do everything in his power to help his team win games in the playoffs and achieve the ultimate goal.
As a very experienced player in the playoffs, he played a very efficient personal performance in this game, and he had 14 points, 5 rebounds and 1 assist on 6-of-11 shooting in the whole game, ranking third on the team, behind Irving and Durant. When he was in the game, the team had a plus-minus of +17, which was the first place.
Judging from the performance of this game, it can be seen that Dragic, who performed generally in the regular season, can show his value in the playoffs, he still has oil, and can give the team a certain help in the game, which is also another gain for the team.
As far as this series is concerned, the Nets want to rely only on Durant and Irving to win the series, it is very difficult, and if Clarkston and Dragic can play steadily, and players such as Mills, Curry Jr. and Brown can perform and give Durant and Irving some help, then the Nets still have a chance to reverse the victory in this series.