The Celtics beat the Nets 114-107 at home, rewriting the series score to 2-0. Jaylen Brown scored 22 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals to help the Celtics stage a comeback while trailing by as many as 17 points, and teammate Tatum contributed 19 points, 6 rebounds and 10 assists. In terms of the Nets, Durant did not feel good, shooting only 4 of 17 shots, including 1 of 2 three-pointers, and 10 shots in the second half, and he scored 27 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 steal.
With little time left on the offensive, Smart's extreme operation went inside. He completed the throw with his left hand, helping the Celtics widen the point difference to 10 points again. Smart held out his left hand and looked at it carefully, his inner sense of accomplishment exploding. At his side, Jaylen Brown also showed a look of great excitement.
At this moment, the sound of Celtics fans seems to be about to overturn the roof of the Garden Arena. Just an hour ago, there was silence here, and the Nets started 9-0, leading by 17 points at one point. However, the Green Shirts did not give up lightly, approaching the score from the third quarter, gradually leveling until the reversal was completed. In Celtics history, they have advanced 40 times under a 2-0 lead, and have only had one rollover in the 2018 Eastern Conference Finals.
In other words, the Celtics are one step away from completing their revenge against the Nets and reaching the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Compared to the previous game, the Nets made adjustments in defensive alignment. Previously, the Nets had Durant paired with Tatum, Bruce Brown with Jaylen Brown, and Curry Jr. against Thes. Such a choice of counterpoint may be inspired by the final battle of the regular season between the two sides. At the time, Brown's opposition to Tatum sent the Green Army core to score 54 points. The purpose of arranging Durant against Tatum is to better limit the Green Army's chief scorer. But from the final result, Tatum still cut 31 points, and the Nets' interior line fell into a comprehensive disadvantage.
So Nash arranged for Durant to sweep the inside and Bruce Brown to take the position of Tatum. At first, this adjustment did have a good effect. Durant's defensive pressure was much less, and he scored 15 points in the first half. Tatum against Brown can easily break through the first line of defense, but it is difficult to score under the basket. The Celtics had the upper hand on the inside in the last game and won nine rebounds in the frontcourt. However, the Celtics were once behind in these statistics in this game, and the Nets have always maintained the situation of the game.
The twist of the game appeared in the third quarter. Uduka said: "In the first half, we were always playing in the crowd. By the second half, we played more tactically than we wanted to play, the pace of the game was better and the transfer of the ball was a little better. ”
However, what really helped the Celtics turn the momentum was still their defense. In the third quarter of the game, the Green Army raised the intensity of defense and the level of physical confrontation to another level. Maybe they don't have an advantage over the Nets in terms of shooting ability, each player's skill. However, the Celtics have a clear advantage over their opponents in physical confrontation.
Especially when Durant received the ball, the Celtics put a lot of pressure on him. "Today the opponent prepared a targeted defense for him, and also went to high intensity, and the whole stadium was constantly 'pouncing on him, grabbing him, holding him', all of which you could have expected before, which made KD play very uncomfortable all the time, and it seemed that he couldn't keep up with the rhythm at all." Nash said after the game. Durant, who scored 15 points in the first half, was lost from the third quarter. In the end, throughout the second half, he failed all 10 shots and made many mistakes.
As soon as a mistake occurred, the Celts were able to launch their counterattack immediately. Jaylen Brown counter-attacked to the front court with Irving hanging on to play 2+1, which is the epitome of the performance of the two teams in the second half, and it is also the gap between the two teams.
Nash said the role players all played well today. Indeed, as he said, if it were not for Curry Jr., Bruce Brown and others to help the Nets survive, perhaps the Celtics would have completed the reversal by the second half of the third quarter. The Nets held out for a while before collapsing completely in the middle of the fourth quarter. The Celtics continue to increase the intensity of physical confrontation, while the Nets' offense is getting more and more monotonous. Brown and Tatum took turns storming the opponent's penalty area, and the 17 points in the final quarter helped the team win the game.
From the perspective of game strategy, the Celtics' game is not much different from the previous game. Infinite change of defense is still the main tone, but they add more pinch and physical confrontation, limiting Irving and Durant to a total of 30 shots and 8 shots. It's not easy to expect Celtic players to easily name the Nets' defensive weak rings in such a level of play, but they can still use their physical talent and confrontation to give the Nets a heavy blow at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends.
Summing up the reasons for the team's reversal, Grant Williams said: "We just finish the finish, play defense, grab rebounds, and then play the conversion offense. We had a good performance before, but we didn't finish the finish, and in the fourth quarter we finally got up. There are no players in our team who play very softly. So we just play confrontational and play in this way. ”
Nash said somewhat helplessly after the game: "Our intensity declined in the second half, we didn't play a conversion attack, we actually had a lot of chances. "However, that's the biggest advantage the Celtics have over the Nets. Conversely, the Nets have the advantage of having two superstars, Durant and Irving. But when the two superstars only have 37 points in the account, the Nets want to win the game.
After the campaign, the Celtics will head to Brooklyn with a 2-0 lead. The only good news for the Nets may be that there will be another three days of rest between these two games. However, the longer the series seems to be more detrimental to the Nets, and Durant is already exhausted today. With no quick fix, the Nets may only hope that Ben Simmons' comeback will change them. From another point of view, pinning your hopes on a player who has not yet played this season is absurd enough.
What's more, Robert Williams on the Celtic side is also poised to go. When Lowe returns, the suspense of this series may have disappeared.
The second half 10 shots were completely lost, which was the worst KD of his career?
Kevin Durant contributed to the worst two consecutive games of his career, not one of them. And when Durant was strangled, the Nets lost two games in a row, which was a reasonable result.
In the game with the Green Army G2, Durant played 42 minutes, only 4 of 17 shooting, had 27 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds, made as many as 6 turnovers, and tied for the team's lowest -10. Remember that KD had already played a disastrous performance in the last game, when he only scored 23 points on 9-of-24 shooting, and also made 6 mistakes.
After the defeat in G1, KD bluntly said that he needed to play more patiently, slow down the pace of the game, and do a solid job. It's hard to imagine him taking it lightly tonight, and the result says one thing: The Celtics' defense is really good enough to pinch KD.
Durant has 13 (31.7 percent) of 41 in his last two games, with 12 turnovers and eight assists. It was the first time in his entire career that he had shot less than 40 percent in two consecutive games and made more than six turnovers. In the second half today, Durant shot 0-of-10 and made four turnovers, the most shots he had ever scored in halftime in his entire career.
The Celtics have taken Durant to the extreme in every angle. The Green Army is the one that does not need to change, they are the first team in the league to defend since the New Year, and even in Lowe's absence, the team's resources to keep an eye on KD are still the top in the league. Tatum and Brown on the front line, Horford, Gwe and Theis on the inside line, no matter how tall and short, have enough strength to withstand Durant's next set, as well as a pair of fast hands who can cut the ball at any time.
In the first half of today, Durant has been able to better deal with the Celtics' chain of iron. He still made a few missteps, but delivered 15 points, three rebounds and three assists on 4-of-7 shooting. But as the game progressed, the Green Army grew stronger and stronger, and they continued to shove Durant into the meat grinder from the beginning of each no-ball round, even at the cost of putting him on the free throw line 20 times. The Celtics' game plan is very clear: we're going to give Durant the intensity of the confrontation he hasn't had in his entire career, squeeze him out from the first second to the last second.
"We do want to keep rushing into Durant's territory, and I think we did too..."Celtics manager Uduka, who served as a Nets assistant coach last season, said after the game, "We want to keep him full on the defensive and offensive ends from start to finish, trying to drain his energy." Attacking KD requires everyone's efforts, and everyone needs to have a clear plan for the game. ”
In the second round of last year's playoffs, Durant blasted an epic personal performance against the ultimate champion Bucks. But in this year's podcast review of that round of confrontation, KD once said bluntly: "After Irving was injured and Harden was injured, I don't think the Bucks completely wanted to strangle me, their attitude was more like, we don't believe KD can defeat us on their own." 」 So I'm just proving what I can do. ”
In contrast, the Celtics' care of KD is a completely different dimension, and you have to praise Uduka's scheduling, and Irving praised the opposing manager after the game. "Uduka coached us last year and he knows us very well and knows how to stop us. He definitely had some keys in his chest to deal with us, and he taught those to his players. Owen said.
Durant is a historic scorer, but he is not without weaknesses, especially after suffering a major Achilles tendon injury and reaching the age of 33. Confrontation and ball possession are the same shortcomings of thin players, facing 90% of the league's defense, this season's reading defense upgrade KD can cope. But the Green Army is not only that 10 percent, even the 5 percent, the 3 percent. And don't forget, after the All-Star Game, Durant averaged 38.6 minutes per game, second among all players who played more than 15 games, behind Irving. Physical fitness is also a major enemy of KD, which is why Durant has lost more and more in the past two battles.
You'll see KD completely out of balance on some of the shots of the second half today, you'll see him dribble the ball on his foot when he heads out at the top of the arc, and you'll see him unable to slide into place quickly on the defensive end. Tatum also felt frozen on the night, but he still shot the key ball in the last quarter, and in addition to facing a defender who is not the same level, he also has 1 minute and 23 seconds less than Durant, and he is 8 years younger.
"When I don't have the ball, there are 2-3 people to defend me, no matter where I am, there are 2-3 people to physically fight me, this is the playoff game. I just need to be more patient, but at the same time play faster in certain moments. ... I'm going to keep fighting, I'm going to make mistakes, I'm going to play iron, but I'm going to keep playing. Durant said after the game.
Of course, the Green Army's good defense is the result that the Nets should expect, not to mention that they have already tasted the pain in G1. For stars of KD's level, it is rare to be completely locked up in two consecutive games. After returning to the Barclays Center, can KD complete the callback? Putting that question aside, the one we can answer is: If he can't respond to the Iron Barrel Squad with a superstar performance, the Nets will be out faster than people think.
Wen | Ji Mengnian Kong Dexin
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