On April 26, Beijing time, the 2021-22 NBA playoffs continued. In today's East Focus game, the Celtics took on the Nets on the road. It was the fourth leg of the first round of the series, and in the first three games, the Green Army took a 3-0 lead, and they are expected to sweep the Nets today to advance.
In today's first quarter, the Green Army's star Tatum's personal desire to attack is not very high, he has provided assists for his teammates in a row, but he only has two three-point shots and all of them are deflected, relying on free throws to score 4 points. Entering the second quarter, the Nets quickly trailed the score to 30-30, and Tatum began to threaten, hitting two consecutive three-pointers in the bottom left corner and left 45 degrees, before hitting another mid-range shot to score eight consecutive points. In the second half of the quarter, Tatum again passed good balls for his teammates, leading the Green Army to a 58:50 lead over the Nets in the first half, and Tatum had 12 points, 2 rebounds and 5 assists in the first half.
At the start of the third quarter, Tatum made two foul shots, then made a decisive three-point shot at the top of the arc, and then he again caused a killing two-of-a-shot shot. In the second half of the quarter, Tatum scored consecutive singles against Bruce Brown, and then he scored a basket on the inside line. Throughout the third quarter, Tatum scored 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting in a single quarter, and under his leadership, the Greens led the Nets 90-78 to end the first three quarters of the game.
After the final quarter began, the Nets closed the gap 6-0, with Tatum winning the basket and then hitting another three-point shot at the top of the arc to regain the team's advantage. But soon Tatum ate today's personal 5th foul and had no choice but to take a break temporarily. 2 minutes and 48 seconds before the final, Tatum was blown out of the field for six offensive fouls! Tatum chased down a point after Tatum went down, but fortunately the Green Army stabilized the advantage and won!
In the end, the Celtics defeated the Nets 116:112 and completed the sweep against the Nets! Tatum played 39 minutes today, shooting 9-of-16, including 4-of-6 from three-point range and 7-of-8 from the free throw line, for a combined 29 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists! After sweeping the Nets, the Green Army became the first team to advance to the division semifinals against the winners of the Bucks and Bulls.