On April 24, Beijing time, the NBA playoffs continued, and the Nets lost 103-109 to the Celtics, falling behind 0-3 on aggregate. In this game, Durant played 46 minutes, scoring only 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting, and although he delivered 8 assists, he made 5 turnovers. After the game, many media and fans felt that Durant's shots were too few, including Durant himself also said that "maybe I should have more hands", but Nets coach Nash did not see it that way.
'I don't think Durant has to burst, we hit good shots and we've been passing the ball. Nash said this in the post-match press conference, and Nash's statement was also very confusing.
Judging by the way Nash used Durant in this game, he clearly wants Durant to act as a playmaker, attracting bags and then creating easy scoring opportunities for his teammates in the empty slots. And do not want Durant to shoot as many singles as in the previous two games, Durant has indeed made a change, but the result? The Nets still lose. At the same time, everyone can see that Durant is not suitable to play the role of organizer at all.
Because Durant's advantage is still his excellent head-to-head ability, organizational ability cannot be said to be absent, but it is not prominent. Therefore, when he encounters the opponent's bag, although he can sometimes pass the ball directly to his teammates, there are also many mistakes. And even if Durant does pass the ball into the hands of his empty teammates, the Celtics are fully receptive.
Throughout the series, the Celtics pursued a multi-person wheel war + assisted defense pack Durant's defensive tactics, intentionally emptying Bruce Brown. In Nash's view, since the Green Army let Brown go, I let Brown attack more, and as a result, In this game, Brown shot as many as 19 times, which is higher than Durant and Irving. Admittedly, Brown himself was very efficient, scoring 26 points on 10-of-19 shooting, but the Celtics were clearly happy to see Brown onslaught and Durant not. After all, no matter how efficient Brown is, he is not a blue-collar guard who can break the Celtics defense. And at the critical moment, can Brown take on the heavy responsibility of attacking the stronghold?
If you want to go far in the playoffs, you really need role players to play, but the blue core has become the main attack point, and it is clear that Nash is the middle plan. And if the Nets want to win, they must also let Durant explode, of course, the way to break out is not to let him work hard with his bag like in the previous two games, but to find a way to create a comfortable head-to-head environment for him.
For example, let Durant play more without the ball, become a pure endpoint, and shoot directly after receiving the ball or dribble quickly to complete the single. In this way, the Celtics will inevitably have more difficulty than when he holds the ball. But if Nash can't think of this, Durant is not willing to change, or feel that relying on assists for blue-collar defenders is the best way to break the game, then in the next game, they may really be swept out by the Green Army.