NEW YORK – Jason Tatum was stunned but sure. He disagreed with his sixth foul, but had no doubt that the Boston Celtics, with their solid defense, would stay without their star.
“I couldn’t believe it at all, but I think that’s what we were made for,” Tatum said.
They may have been built for the championship.
Tatum scored 29 points, Jaylan Brown 22 and the Celtics finished four games with the Brooklyn Nets, becoming the first team to reach the second round of the playoffs with a 116-112 victory Monday night.
Marcus Smart added 20 points and 11 assists for the Celtics No. 2, who did an easy job with what was thought to be a difficult series. Boston will wait for the winner of the series between Milwaukee and Chicago, where defending champion Bucks leads 3-1.
The Celtics did not show fear of the Nets, who with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving did not have the profile of a typical low start. Boston won on the last day of the regular season instead of losing to fall down the standings and avoid the match.
It turned out that there was no reason to worry.
“It’s funny to us because we don’t cheat and we don’t avoid anyone,” Smart said. “We knew what we were going to come in here and do.”
Durant scored 39 points, nine assists and seven rebounds after the Celtics defended well in the first three games. But he could not provide the Nets with the victory they need to prolong what is instead considered a huge failure of the season.
Expected to be a contender for the NBA Finals, the Nets needed a strong final just to grab number 7.
Seth Curry scored 23 points for the Nets. Irving, whose absence for home games for much of the season because he has not been vaccinated against coronavirus, has contributed to the Nets’ performance so far below expectations, with 20 points.
“A lot of things that can affect why we lose, but they were just a better team,” Durant said.
The Celtics were below 0.500 in the middle of their season, but from now on they made 31-10, and Tatum is emerging as a powerful scorer in one of the best teams in the NBA in defense.
This defense limited Durant to just 19-52 shots with 17 turnovers in the first three games and made it difficult, even when he finally got more shots to fire on Monday. He was just 13 of 31 off the field, 3 for 11 behind the arc.
He lost in the first round for the first time since 2010 with Oklahoma City, the first playoff series of his career. He won nine consecutive series of the first round.
Tatum scored 12 points in the third quarter and the Celtics took a 90-75 lead in the final seconds of the period. But he went to the bench with a fifth foul in the remaining 8:17 and the Nets made a push that brought them within three points about three minutes later.
Tatum dropped out, with the Celtics leading by six with 2:48 to play. Irving made a three-pointer and Durant scored to reduce it to 109-108 with the remaining 1:28. But after Brown’s basket, Durant managed to make only one free throw and the Celtics rushed down the floor, as Al Horford returned the miss to Smart and made the result 113-109 with 13 seconds to go.
With Durant, Irving and James Harden Nets, they started the season as a team that seemed powerful enough to win its first NBA title. But Irving didn’t play at all to start the season, and it wasn’t long after he came back playing only games, Harden was unhappy and the Nets gave him to Philadelphia in exchange for Ben Simmons.
The Nets had hoped they could make Simmons make their debut for them in Game 4, but he was ruled out on Sunday due to more back pain that plagued him shortly after arriving in the Philadelphia exchange in the middle of the season.
Irving said his emotions were “disappointing, a little sad because we didn’t play as well as a team as we wanted.”
The Nets lost just 45-44 with 3:29 to play in the second quarter. But Grant Williams scored three three points from then until the end of the half, the latter giving Boston a 58-50 lead.
ADVICES
Celtics: Boston swept their first-round streak for the third time in four years. The Celtics beat Indiana in four games in 2019 and Philadelphia in 2020 at Walt Disney World. They lost 4-1 in the first round of the Nets last season. ? Williams scored 14 points and Horford 13.
Networks: Bruce Brown has scored just two points after scoring 26 and 23 in the previous two games, the first time he has played in a row with 20 points in his career. ? Nick Claxton scored 13 points. He was 6 for 6 on the pitch, but 1 for 11 on the free throw line, missing his first 10 before making the last one when the Celtics fouled him on purpose.
SIMONS SITUATION
Coach Steve Nash said he did not want to speak on behalf of Simmons, but admitted that he has a mental side beyond the physical problems he faces. Simmons cited mental health concerns as a reason for seeking to leave Philadelphia and not fit into the 76ers this season.
“I think Ben has turned to having a mental component in what he’s going through, but it’s not for me to talk about how much and where he is,” Nash said. “But as far as the organization is concerned, we really insist on supporting Ben in every way to help him improve physically and get back on the court, and then the mental side is an integral part of that. They are not separate, they are not something we do not want to deal with. We want to help if he needs help in every aspect of his life and his game. “
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