"Kevin Durant, MVP of Boston."
American celebrity Skip-Baylors, like the usual scolding of LeBron James, unceremoniously criticized Durant for being undercover with the Nets.
Baylors's words sound harsh, but they are also true. In the Nets' 107-114 away loss to the Celtics, Durant played 4-of-17 shooting in 42 minutes (including 1 of 2 three-pointers) and shot just 23.5 percent from the field, and he scored 27 points on 18 of 20 free throws. Durant shot 4-of-7 in the first half, but on 0-of-10 shooting in the second half, he made six turnovers and had the worst team at -10 points.
What is the 23.5% shooting percentage in a single game? That's the fourth lowest record of Durant's playoff career, and the last time he played such a bad performance in the playoffs was back in 2016, when he shot 7 of 33 in game 2 with the Lone Rangers in the first round of the playoffs, shooting 21.2 percent from the field and seven turnovers. A 10-shot full-time half was Durant's worst career record (counting the regular season), and he had never experienced such embarrassment before.
After the first two games of the series, Durant shot 13 of 41 and shot just 32 percent from the field. He delivered a total of eight assists but 12 turnovers. It was the first time in Durant's career that he shot less than 40 percent from two consecutive games and made at least six turnovers per game. Durant had a plus-minus of -23 points on the floor, the Nets' worst on the team.
The Nets are 2-0 behind, and Durant is clearly responsible. And then the Nets want to equalize the series to turn the tide, but also need Durant to return to normal.
In the last game, Durant's poor performance could be justified by "the main defense Tatum consumes too much" and "the series did not adapt to the Celtics at the beginning" as the reason. But today, Nash made tactical adjustments and shared a lot of defensive pressure on Durant. With the experience of the first game, durant should be able to adapt to the Celtics' defensive intensity.
Nash didn't use Blake Griffin or LaMarcus Aldridge today, he just modified the counterpoint. After the opening, Bruce Brown defended Tatum, Seth Curry defended Jaylen Brown, Kyrie Irving played Marcus Smart, Drummond played against Theis, and Durant was in charge of Al Horford. Nash wants Durant to stand in the defensive position, mainly responsible for assisting the defense to protect the basket, recycle rebounds, and test the Celtics' three-point accuracy on the outside.
On the offensive end, Nash took full advantage of Bruce Brown, and he was extremely active after the opening, and the Nets took advantage of Horford's chances against Brown to play a lot of targeted tactics, completely targeting Horford as Rudy Gobert. Goran Dragic played well after the rotation time, and he and Bruce Brown became the nets' two big surprises.
Although Durant's assisted defense effect is not ideal, he has not completed several successful baskets under the basket, and the bottom corner has been hit by Horford and Grant Williams many times, but the Nets have established a 17-point advantage with excellent offensive efficiency and protection for rebounds.
Just in the first half, Nash's adjustment and the explosion of role players have set the stage for Durant, and Durant only needs to do his duty in the second half and play at the level he deserves. But what kind of performance did Durant deliver?
Facing the Celtics' chain, Durant was either cut off or passed incorrectly. After a few mistakes, Durant's mentality exploded, not only did he miss a rare two-penalty miss, but he was also counter-attacked by his opponent face-to-face steals when dribbling. Durant's mistakes in this live-ball state hurt the Nets hugely, and the Celtics scored 19 points and scored 11 points just by relying on the Nets' mistakes.
Hitting the back, Durant's mentality clearly affected his shot. Even if the Celtics don't have a bag clip, Durant can't send the ball to the basket one-on-one. Throughout the second half, the Nets scored just 42 points and lost as many as 17 points. Of course, Irving's offensive status today is not online, but in the "711 combination", the most obvious problem is Durant. Because the Nets' offense has been dismantled by the Celtics' change of defense, Durant is the player who has been packed a lot, he can't score at this point, can't run the ball, and the Nets' offense is deadlocked.
What else can the Nets adjust? Durant first had to make his own adjustments, and after two games, he paid enough tuition in front of the Celtics' iron rope, and he needed to watch the video and find a way to crack the opponent's bag. In fact, in the first half, his response when he was not impatient was still remarkable, but in the second half, he suddenly went wild. Durant should cut back on breakouts after multiple dribbles, as the Celtics waited for his second and third dribbles to cut the ball.
From the level of the Nets, Nash should use Dragic more next, and after two games, Dragic is the best role player in the Nets overall performance. In the first two games, the Nets used Dragic more as an endpoint, but next, Dragic should play more of an offensive starting point, allowing Durant to play a few more easy no-ball cover catch shots, which can allow Durant to reduce consumption, improve efficiency, and reduce mistakes. Durant and Irving have been too many singles in the first two games, and today the Nets shot 35 athletic goals, but only 16 assists, and the assist rate is very low.
Of course, Durant (including Irving) to improve their offensive performance is only the basic set of the Nets, and the Nets want to increase the ceiling and have to make up for the physical disadvantage. Nash modified the defensive alignment today, but whether it's Seth Curry or Irving vs. Jaylen Brown, the difference in size between the two sides is noticeable. In the fourth quarter, when Jaylen Brown took over the offense and scored consecutive points to open the score, he used his size advantage to continuously crush the basket.
The Nets are too eager for Ben Simmons to make a comeback as soon as possible, simmons has trained several times this week and he has hopes of returning in game three or four. If Simmons returns, even if he only plays 15-20 minutes per game, he can help the Nets on the defensive end, he only needs to take over one of Tatum or Jaylen Brown, and the Nets can improve their winning margin a lot.
For the Nets, a 2-0 draw is not the end of the world, especially if they have taken the initiative in both games. If the Nets can play normally after returning home, Simmons can also return as expected, and this round of the series may still play game six or even grab seven.
But the premise of everything is that Durant, the "god of death", wields a scythe.