NEW YORK — Jayson TatumScored 29 points Jaylen BrownThere were 22 of them and they Boston CelticsCompleted a sweep of the four-game tournament Brooklyn NetsWith a victory of 116-112, the team became the first to reach the second round.
Marcus SmartFor the No. 2, they added 20 points to their total and 11 assists. The No. 2 seeded Celtics made light work of what could have been a difficult series. Boston will be waiting for the winner between Milwaukee and Chicago. The Bucks are currently the champions with a 3-1 lead.
Kevin DurantAfter the Celtics had protected him well in three of the previous games, he was able to break free with 39 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds. He couldn’t score the Nets the win that they needed to prolong what will be remembered as a huge failure of a season.
The Nets were expected to be a contender for the NBA Finals, but they needed to win strong to capture the No. 7 seed.
Seth CurryScored 23 points for the Nets Kyrie IrvingTwenty points were scored by, who was unable to attend home games most of the season due to his inability to get vaccinated for the coronavirus,
At the halfway point of their season, the Celtics were below.500 but went 31-10. Tatum emerged as the leading scorer on one of the best defense teams in the NBA.
Durant shot 19-for-52 with 17 turnovers through his first three games. That defense made it difficult for Durant, who was only 19-for-52 on the field and had just 17 shots. Durant finally dropped more shots Monday. Durant was just 13 of 31 on the field and only 3 of 11 behind the arc.